Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016)
The seasonally ice-covered waters of Hudson Bay, James Bay, Foxe Basin, and Hudson Strait (“the study area”) are bordered by 39 communities with a total population of roughly 50,000 people, most of whom are Inuit or Cree. Sea ice is a cornerstone of the environment and culture of the study area but...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.281 https://doaj.org/article/aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 2023-05-15T16:17:59+02:00 Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) Jonathan Andrews David Babb David G. Barber 2018-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.281 https://doaj.org/article/aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 EN eng BioOne https://www.elementascience.org/articles/281 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.1525/elementa.281 https://doaj.org/article/aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2018) Climate change sea ice shipping Hudson Bay Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.281 2022-12-31T06:18:44Z The seasonally ice-covered waters of Hudson Bay, James Bay, Foxe Basin, and Hudson Strait (“the study area”) are bordered by 39 communities with a total population of roughly 50,000 people, most of whom are Inuit or Cree. Sea ice is a cornerstone of the environment and culture of the study area but is also the main barrier to shipping traffic, which has been growing in the area. This paper presents a review of sea ice and shipping in the study area and an analysis of shipping accessibility as represented by the timing of breakup, freeze-up, and the open water season in its offshore and local waters. Offshore ice timing was analyzed using passive microwave-based data for 1980–2014; local ice timing near Rankin Inlet, Churchill, Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui, and Salluit was examined using Canadian Ice Service ice charts for 1996–2016. Open water was defined using sea ice concentration thresholds of ≤15% (offshore) or <20% (local) in an attempt to represent accessible conditions for open water shipping vessels. The results for both offshore and local waters display considerable spatial variability. For offshore waters, breakup currently occurs between 17 May and 19 August and freeze-up occurs between 22 October and 30 December, with overall trends (1980–2014) of +0.58 days year–1 towards an earlier breakup, +0.47 days year–1 towards a later freeze-up, and +0.97 days year–1 towards a longer open water season. Also, significant relationships amongst breakup and freeze-up were observed. For local waters, the 1996–2016 average open water season at the four communities varied between 112.7 days (Churchill) and 154.7 days (Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui). Ultimately, shipping accessibility to Rankin Inlet, Churchill, and Salluit appears to be limited by their local ice timing, while accessibility to Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui appears to be limited by ice timing in northeastern Hudson Bay. Article in Journal/Newspaper Foxe Basin Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Kuujjuarapik Rankin Inlet Salluit Sea ice ice covered waters James Bay Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Foxe Basin ENVELOPE(-77.918,-77.918,65.931,65.931) Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait ENVELOPE(-70.000,-70.000,62.000,62.000) Kuujjuarapik ENVELOPE(-77.762,-77.762,55.276,55.276) Rankin Inlet ENVELOPE(-91.983,-91.983,62.734,62.734) Salluit ENVELOPE(-75.643,-75.643,62.204,62.204) Whapmagoostui ENVELOPE(-77.750,-77.750,55.250,55.250) Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 6 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate change sea ice shipping Hudson Bay Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Climate change sea ice shipping Hudson Bay Environmental sciences GE1-350 Jonathan Andrews David Babb David G. Barber Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
topic_facet |
Climate change sea ice shipping Hudson Bay Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The seasonally ice-covered waters of Hudson Bay, James Bay, Foxe Basin, and Hudson Strait (“the study area”) are bordered by 39 communities with a total population of roughly 50,000 people, most of whom are Inuit or Cree. Sea ice is a cornerstone of the environment and culture of the study area but is also the main barrier to shipping traffic, which has been growing in the area. This paper presents a review of sea ice and shipping in the study area and an analysis of shipping accessibility as represented by the timing of breakup, freeze-up, and the open water season in its offshore and local waters. Offshore ice timing was analyzed using passive microwave-based data for 1980–2014; local ice timing near Rankin Inlet, Churchill, Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui, and Salluit was examined using Canadian Ice Service ice charts for 1996–2016. Open water was defined using sea ice concentration thresholds of ≤15% (offshore) or <20% (local) in an attempt to represent accessible conditions for open water shipping vessels. The results for both offshore and local waters display considerable spatial variability. For offshore waters, breakup currently occurs between 17 May and 19 August and freeze-up occurs between 22 October and 30 December, with overall trends (1980–2014) of +0.58 days year–1 towards an earlier breakup, +0.47 days year–1 towards a later freeze-up, and +0.97 days year–1 towards a longer open water season. Also, significant relationships amongst breakup and freeze-up were observed. For local waters, the 1996–2016 average open water season at the four communities varied between 112.7 days (Churchill) and 154.7 days (Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui). Ultimately, shipping accessibility to Rankin Inlet, Churchill, and Salluit appears to be limited by their local ice timing, while accessibility to Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui appears to be limited by ice timing in northeastern Hudson Bay. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jonathan Andrews David Babb David G. Barber |
author_facet |
Jonathan Andrews David Babb David G. Barber |
author_sort |
Jonathan Andrews |
title |
Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
title_short |
Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
title_full |
Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
title_fullStr |
Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate change and sea ice: Shipping in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin (1980–2016) |
title_sort |
climate change and sea ice: shipping in hudson bay, hudson strait, and foxe basin (1980–2016) |
publisher |
BioOne |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.281 https://doaj.org/article/aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-77.918,-77.918,65.931,65.931) ENVELOPE(-70.000,-70.000,62.000,62.000) ENVELOPE(-77.762,-77.762,55.276,55.276) ENVELOPE(-91.983,-91.983,62.734,62.734) ENVELOPE(-75.643,-75.643,62.204,62.204) ENVELOPE(-77.750,-77.750,55.250,55.250) |
geographic |
Foxe Basin Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait Kuujjuarapik Rankin Inlet Salluit Whapmagoostui |
geographic_facet |
Foxe Basin Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait Kuujjuarapik Rankin Inlet Salluit Whapmagoostui |
genre |
Foxe Basin Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Kuujjuarapik Rankin Inlet Salluit Sea ice ice covered waters James Bay |
genre_facet |
Foxe Basin Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Kuujjuarapik Rankin Inlet Salluit Sea ice ice covered waters James Bay |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.elementascience.org/articles/281 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.1525/elementa.281 https://doaj.org/article/aa54a51a5b27488cb1af56c2a82a69e8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.281 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
6 |
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1766004002635382784 |