New Arctic research network will study climate change

Laval University has teamed up with northern aboriginals to create a unique network of eight Arctic research stations stretching from the end of the boreal forest all the way up to a tiny dot of land most often used as a jumping-off point to the North Pole.

Qaujisarvik Inuktitut for "a place for study" will enable observations on everything from climate change to how southern pollution affects northern foods, says Yves Begin of Laval's Centre d'etudes nordiques.

A $3-million grant from the federal Canadian Foundation for Innovation will allow researchers to renovate and refit already existing buildings into living and work spaces a step up from the tents field researchers usually inhabit.

The network of stations will be unique in Canada. Other stations exist in locations such as Churchill, Man., or Kluane, Yukon, but they aren't linked to others and are badly in need of renovation. Each Qaujisarvik station will offer on-site storage and a lab that will enable more accurate study of things such as permafrost samples that need to be kept frozen.

The southernmost station is at Radisson, near some of Hydro-Qubec's facilities, on the edge of the boreal forest.

Ward Hunt Island, a rocky speck off the northern coast of Ellesmere Island and often used by polar expeditions, is the highest. The facilities on Ward Hunt, which will only be used in the summer, will consist of a type of tent that will have to be raised every season.

Qaujisarvik will be augmented by links with another network of 88 automated weather stations to give researchers wide access to soil and climate data from throughout the Eastern Arctic.

Four of the stations will be Inuit-owned, including the Nunavik Research Station, owned by Makivik Corp., the land claims organization of the Quebec Inuit.

"It'll mean they're able to get some improvement in infrastructure and equipment," said station director Bill Doidge from Kuujjuaq, Que., where the station is located.

The Kuujjuaq station dates back to the land claims process during which the Inuit sought independent scientific advice. It may be the only aboriginal-owned research facility in Canada.

Different stations will focus on different questions, said Begin.

Long view

More southerly facilities will look at large animal populations such as caribou and snow geese, as well as the presence of contaminants such as mercury and organochlorines in the food chain. Permafrost degradation, wetlands and the slow northward creep of southern plants such as shrubs are also on the research agenda.

Having permanent facilities will allow scientists to take the long view in the Arctic, Begin said.

"The next generation of researchers will be able to carry on research for the long term and see how things evolve.

"This is exactly our goal."