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Listening to Inuit and Naskapi peoples in the eastern Canadian Subarctic: a quantitative comparison of local observations with gridded climate data

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Abstract

For Inuit and Naskapi living in the eastern Canadian Subarctic, local meteorological and environmental conditions (e.g., snow and ice cover extent, thickness, and duration) play a key role as they affect subsistence activities such as fishing, hunting, trapping, and harvesting. In this study, we first documented locally observed changes in meteorological and environmental conditions made by members of the Inuit communities of Kangiqsualujjuaq (Québec) and Nain (Newfoundland and Labrador) and the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (Québec). We then examined spatiotemporal trends in gridded meteorological variables, most notably air temperature and precipitation, publicly available online. We compared Naskapi and Inuit observations with meteorological variables using a novel statistical approach to answer the question: how do locally observed changes in meteorological and environmental conditions relate to spatiotemporal trends in gridded meteorological variables? We used an adapted consensus index to measure the level of agreement in participants’ observations and assess the efficacy and utility of converting qualitative statements into quantitative measures for use in statistical models. Our results indicate that all three communities observed changes in meteorological and environmental conditions and that our consensus indices appropriately translated community observations. Participants from all three communities agreed that winter air temperatures are warmer, that the quantity of snow is diminishing, that freeze-up occurs later in the fall, and that precipitation patterns are changing. In contrast to Kangiqsualujjuaq and Kawawachikamach, participants from Nain observed that summer air temperatures have cooled. Through the analysis of gridded meteorological variables, we identified increases in annual mean and seasonal air temperatures and in total annual precipitation, particularly between 1990 and 2009. When analyzing both community observations and spatiotemporal trends in gridded meteorological variables, we found consensus regarding subjective changes and quantitative changes in mean air temperature and total precipitation.

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Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to the three communities, especially the elders and knowledge holders who participated in the project. We wish to thank ArcticNet, Health Canada, OURANOS, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), as well as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Memorial University to L. Siegwart Collier for having provided funding. We dedicate this paper to the memory of the late Willie Emudluk (Kangiqsualujjuaq), Sarah Ittulak (Nain), and John Shecanapish (Kawawachikamach).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Michel Rapinski & Alain Cuerrier

  2. Département de géographie, Université de Montréal, Pavillon 520, ch. de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, H2V 2B8, Canada

    Fanny Payette, Oliver Sonnentag, Thora Martina Herrmann & Marie-Jeanne S. Royer

  3. Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X9, Canada

    Laura Siegwart Collier & Luise Hermanutz

  4. Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, Kawawachikamach, QC, GOG 2Z0, Canada

    George Guanish

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  1. Michel Rapinski
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  2. Fanny Payette
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  3. Oliver Sonnentag
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Elders of Kawawachikamach

Elders of Kangiqsualujjuaq

Elders of Nain

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Correspondence to Michel Rapinski.

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Rapinski, M., Payette, F., Sonnentag, O. et al. Listening to Inuit and Naskapi peoples in the eastern Canadian Subarctic: a quantitative comparison of local observations with gridded climate data. Reg Environ Change 18, 189–203 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1188-3

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