Thawing permafrost, eroding lakeshores, a melting glacier and fears of flash floods at a national park on Baffin Island have forced the evacuation of 21 tourists and led officials to declare much of the wilderness reserve off-limits until geologists and ice experts can assess what appear to be the latest dramatic effects of climate change in Canada's Arctic.
The 19,000-square-kilometre Auyuittuq National Park on the island's northeast coast has recently experienced record-breaking warmth and substantial amounts of rain..
This week's crisis at Auyuittuq follows June flooding in the nearby community of Pangnirtung, where rain, melting ice and eroding riverbanks forced the shutdown of a key bridge linking the hamlet's two sides.
Auyuittuq's dominant feature, the Penny Ice Cap, has been shedding water for weeks and warm weather has destabilized the shoreline around Crater Lake, a popular site in the park. Officials, concerned that the lake could catastrophically drain into a nearby valley, arranged helicopter evacuation of tourists with help from the Canadian Coast Guard and the RCMP.
Erosion, flash-floods threaten national park on Baffin Island
Thawing permafrost, eroding lakeshores, a melting glacier and fears of flash floods at a national park on Baffin Island have forced the evacuation of 21 tourists.
Published: 01.08.2008 13:50
Canada-Nunavut
15.12.2010 11:33
“If [the federal government] is serious about sovereignty and Canada’s North, we really need viable communities to be living in"
Read more 15.12.2010 10:55
The work of Inuk artist and writer Alootook Ipellie continues to be appreciated— mainly in Europe.
Read more 11.12.2010 12:03
"We have to break the iceberg into pieces. Then things will come out. After the iceberg has crumbled, there’s a cleansing of the body"
Read more 07.12.2010 13:15
Ottawa has proposed that about 44,500 square kilometres of marine territory in Lancaster Sound become a protected area.
Read more 07.12.2010 13:10
A changing diet and a reluctance to take supplements means many people in Nunavut suffer from Vitamin D deficiency.
Read more 05.12.2010 14:46
“We’re very hopeful that what we’re going to hear is the confirmation from the federal government of expansive boundaries for the marine conservation area"
Read more 03.12.2010 14:35
The Nutrition North program depends on competition among airlines and retailers to lower the costs of transporting perishable foods.
24.11.2010 16:34
"You will not allow those uranium mines to open, for the health and well-being not just of you and your descendants, but for the health and well-being of the whole planet"
Read more 22.11.2010 07:45
A storm in the region Nov. 17 and Nov. 18 had temperatures dropping and ice forming.
21.11.2010 14:14
"If you can get to the [Arctic] shore by some form of maritime transport, then you can get onto one of these aircrafts without being checked."
Read more