Watching the weather

For native people in the Arctic, watching and studying the climate is a matter of survival.

The climate affects the migration and survival of animals that are an important source of native diets, the ability of goods to arrive from the south, the stability of homes on the permafrost and the ice-thickness to make travel over land and sea safe.

In the Climate Witness projects sponsored by WWF, people can tell their stories about how they’re experiencing the changes in climate and what it means to them.

Learn more about people's experiences of climate change in:

• Huslia, Alaska
  Residents of Huslia are witnessing many changes in the local environment, such as the disappearance of lakes, changes in wildlife behaviour and long-term shifts in temperature. Watch a multimedia presentation, listen to audio interviews with local elders or read the blog from a WWF staff member who visited Huslia.
  
• Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada
  As the climate warms there is an increasing number of polar bears visiting local communities in search of food and hunters are noticing changes in ice conditions when they are on the land.
• Unalakleet, Alaska
  Many elders in the village of Unalakleet, Alaska have observed major changes that global warming has brought upon the environment within the past few decades.