Adaptation to Climate Change in the Context of Multiple Stressors in the Canadian Arctic ...

• Main Author: Lede, Eric
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland 2018
• Subjects: multiple stressors; adaptive capacity; community-based research; participatory research; Indigenous; Inuit; Inuvialuit; Arctic; Paulatuk; resilience; social-ecological systems; vulnerability; Climate change; inuit; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25907/00382; https://research.usc.edu.au/esploro/outputs/graduate/99451178302621

Inuvialuit, a self-identified group of Inuit in Canada's western Arctic, are experiencing impacts from climate change in the context of multiple climatic and non-climatic stressors already affecting their lives and livelihoods. To support adaptation that enables Inuvialuit to maintain their traditional practices while improving their livelihoods, decision makers need to understand the role that multiple stressors have in influencing how Inuvialuit experience and respond to climate change. This thesis employs a vulnerability approach to understand how multiple stressors influence adaptation to climate change through a case study of Paulatuk, Northwest Territories, Canada. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with community members (n=28), participant observation, and analysis of secondary sources. Findings indicate that Inuvialuit in Paulatuk are dealing with a wide range of climate and non-climate related stressors operating at multiple temporal and spatial scales. These include issues ...