Heading north

The project is focusing on the circumpolar flaw lead - a region where gaps form between the fast ice that stays fixed to the coastline and the more mobile sea ice. The presence of open water brings the flaw lead unique properties. It's a great habitat for wildlife and an ideal place for scientists to study the effects of climate change on both ecosystems and the ocean itself.

But before I can find out more about the science, I must continue my journey to Inuvik - a town of 3,000 people in Canada's far north. Following a spot of souvenir-browsing at Edmonton's departures lounge, where the specialities are moose fur slippers and jewellery made from fossil mammoth ivory, I fly to Yellow Knife and then Norman Wells. The seemingly-obligatory airport polar bears become more realistic as I head north: the one at Yellow Knife is stuffed and pretending to catch a seal, while Inuvik's bear is both stuffed and standing on its back legs roaring threateningly.

In Inuvik I meet with Liz Gordon, regional coordinator for the Amundsen project, who tells me about some of the signs of climate change she's experienced. It's hard for Inuit people to predict the condition of the ice these days, which makes travelling across it difficult and dangerous. "We can't take chances on that ice any more, it doesn't go as solid as it used to," she said. Indeed, according to Liz's colleague Stephanie Meakin, some communities have gone back to using dogs for transport rather than snowmobile as dogs will sense where the ice is dangerously thin and refuse to cross it.

Last summer the extent of sea-ice across the Arctic reached record-breakingly low levels, and predictions for this year aren't looking too promising either.

Liz says the wildlife is changing as well as the ice - last summer grasshoppers arrived in Inuvik for the first time ever. And a polar bear was seen on the Dempster Highway, 600 km further south than its usual coastal habitat.

In a part of the project dubbed "the two ways of knowing", Inuit communities are sharing their traditional knowledge about wildlife and ice conditions with scientists. In return, the researchers are providing predictions about how the climate will change in the future. This could help the communities to plan how they can try to adapt to climate change.

Tomorrow I'll get to join the scientists on board and find out how well the acupressure wrist band I've bought to combat seasickness really works.

http://www.ipy-cfl.ca   Circumpolar Flaw Lead project