Communities in the Arctic Threatened by Rising Waters

Some communities are being threatened by the rising waters, because ice that has melted is no longer there to protect the land from the Arctic waves. From the Saturday, November 24, 2007, Ideas section of the Toronto Star, page ID5:

THREATENED

Five Arctic communities threatened by rising waters:

* Tuktoyaktuk
An Inuvialuit town of about 1,000 on the western Arctic coast of the Northwest Territories, it will be a future hub of oil and gas activity.

* Aklavik
A Gwich'in community of 740 located on the Peel channel of the Mackenzie Rover Delta that has no summer road access. Traditionally, the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit gathered here to trade with the Hudson's Bay Company post established in 1912.

* Shingle Point
Also known as Tapaq, the community sits on a sand split east of Tuktoyaktuk on the Yukon coast. It was once a thriving community before a series of epidemics forced the people to move elsewhere. It is now used as a seasonabl hunting camp.

* Kittigaaryuit
Situated at the mouth of the East Channel of the Mackenzie River, Kitigaaryuit (also spelled Kittigazuit) was the largest permanent Inuvialuit settlement before contact with Europeans. It is now a national historic site.

* Herschel Island
Also called Qukiqtaryuk, meaning "It is island," the island's Pauline Cove was a historic whaling port from 190 to 1910. It is in the Yukon just off the north coast in the Beaufort Sea near the mouth of the Firth River.