James Ford

Vulnerability to Climate Change in Arctic Canada: the Vulnerability Approach and Case Studies from Inuit Communities in Nunavut James Ford

There is strong evidence that climate change is underway in the Arctic, with implications for Canada's Inuit population. This book investigates vulnerability to climate change among Inuit communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It begins by developing a conceptual model and analytical approach to guide vulnerability analysis. The model is applied using two in-depth community case studies (Arctic Bay and Igloolik), where 119 interviews, participant observation, analysis of secondary sources, and biophysical modeling were conducted. The research highlights that climate change is occurring in the Canadian Arctic and is affecting Inuit livelihoods. Vulnerability to climate change, however, is not simply a function of changing climatic conditions, and the book situates the emergence of vulnerable groups in the context of social, economic and political changes experienced in the second half of the twentieth century. The book will be of interest to those working in Arctic regions on human dimensions of climate change research. More broadly, the vulnerability approach developed in the book will of interest to the climate change vulnerability community in general.