Only 0.5 percent of the world’s population lives in the Arctic, a remote region where extreme conditions prevail and daily life revolves around ice, both glacial ice and sea-ice. And as global warming continues to cause rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures, that all-important sea ice is increasingly melting away.
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
There are two reasons why disappearing sea ice in the Arctic matter to someone living in a large urban centre in the U.S. or India or China: Because most of the world’s biggest cities—including New York, Mumbai, and Shanghai—are located on coastlines and melting glacial ice sheets, and subsequent sea-level rise will threaten...
Monitoring the rapidly changing Arctic is vital to climate science. However installing and maintaining real-time ocean observing infrastructure in Canada’s remote and icy north is complex. Every instrument must be designed to withstand sub-freezing temperatures on land, in the water, and⎯for most of the year⎯under sea ice. Access to a reliable high-speed Internet connection in remote regions can be challenging, and that’s assuming you’ve figured out how to transport the specialized high-tech gear thousands of kilometres to the Arctic circle in the first place.
After five years of gathering real-time Arctic Ocean and sea ice data, Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) Cambridge Bay community observatory infrastructure received a major overhaul in September 2017. In...
The following OpEd written by Ocean Networks Canada President Kate Moran was published in The Hill Times on Monday, 8 May 2017.
Imagine autumn in the Gatineau’s without trees, or the Rideau River without water. Now imagine the Arctic without ice. All unimaginable images, yet despite our proud “Great White North” designation, the problem in grasping the magnitude of this meltdown is that it seems so far away. In fact, the vast majority of Canada’s 35 million citizens know only of the Arctic through the pages of school textbooks, and it’s easy to see why. According to the 2016 census, 66% of Canadians live within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border, as far from...
Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) applauds the United States and Canada in their resolve to embrace opportunities and confront challenges in the changing Arctic through Indigenous partnerships and responsible, science-based leadership.
On 20 December, President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau issued a United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement to launch actions ensuring a strong, sustainable, and viable Arctic economy and ecosystem. Actions include low-impact shipping, science-based management of marine resources, and freedom from the future risks of offshore oil and gas activity. Together, these actions set the stage for deeper partnerships with other Arctic nations,...
In late summer 2016, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut found itself at the centre of an arctic crossroads of sorts: a pivotal meeting place where ice-bound history is melting into climate science. A week after the first luxury cruise ship sailed through a virtually ice-free Northwest Passage and anchored in Cambridge Bay, the wreck of Franklin’s ship The Terror—abandoned in 1845 due to impenetrable sea-ice—was finally discovered in Terror Bay, just 200 km east.
The coincidence in time and place of these two iconic voyages poignantly highlights how quickly the arctic climate is changing, the need to monitor these changes, and the growing importance of Cambridge Bay as an emerging arctic hub.
As shrinking sea ice ushers in a new era for arctic tourism, Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) newly expanded Cambridge Bay observatory becomes a vital tool for monitoring ocean health and marine safety.
Map of Ocean Networks Canada data sources and installations in the Arctic.
On 29 August, the cruise ship Crystal Serenity arrived in Cambridge Bay Nunavut, bringing 1600 passengers and crew to the tiny hamlet, temporarily doubling the population of about 1500 people. ...
Ever since she was little, Mia Otokiak has wanted to be a marine biologist. As a Grade 10 student in Cambridge Bay, she was really excited when Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) came to her hometown in 2012 to install its first community observatory. And now that she’s ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia is realizing her dream. “When I heard that 95% of the ocean is still unknown, I thought it would be really cool to explore it,” says Mia.
