The threat posed by climate change in the Arctic and the problems faced by Canada's Inuit people

气候变化对北极地区构成的威胁以及加拿大因纽特人面临的困境

AUnusual incidents are being reported across the Arctic. Inuit families going off on snowmobiles to prepare their summer hunting camps have found themselves cut off from home by a sea of mud, following early thaws. There are reports of igloos losing their insulating properties as the snow drips and refreezes, of lakes draining into the sea as permafrost melts, and sea ice breaking up earlier than usual, carrying seals beyond the reach of hunters. Climate change may still be a rather abstract idea to most of us, but in the Arctic it is already having dramatic effects - if summertime ice continues to shrink at its present rate, the Arctic Ocean could soon become virtually ice-free in summer. The knock-on effects are likely to include more warming, cloudier skies, increased precipitation and higher sea levels. Scientists are increasingly keen to find out what's going on because they consider the Arctic the 'canary in the mine' for global warming - a warning of what's in store for the rest of the world.

[p:a]北极地区正在发生一些异常现象。因纽特人家庭在雪地摩托上前往夏季狩猎营地时，由于早春融雪导致泥泞遍布，被隔绝在家中。有报告称，冰屋因积雪融化后再次结冰而失去保温性能，湖泊因永久冻土融化而向海洋排水，海冰也比以往更早破裂，将海豹带离了猎人的活动范围。对大多数人来说，气候变化可能仍是一个抽象的概念，但在北极地区，它已带来显著影响——如果夏季浮冰继续以目前的速度消融，北极洋很快可能在夏季几乎完全无冰。由此引发的连锁反应可能包括气温进一步上升、天空更加阴沉、降水增加以及海平面持续上升。科学家们越来越关注这些变化，因为他们认为北极是全球变暖的“先兆”——预示着世界其他地区将面临的后果。

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BFor the Inuit the problem is urgent. They live in precarious balance with one of the toughest environments on earth. Climate change, whatever its causes, is a direct threat to their way of life. Nobody knows the Arctic as well as the locals, which is why they are not content simply to stand back and let outside experts tell them what's happening. In Canada, where the Inuit people are jealously guarding their hard-won autonomy in the country's newest territory, Nunavut, they believe their best hope of survival in this changing environment lies in combining their ancestral knowledge with the best of modern science. This is a challenge in itself.

[p:b]对因纽特人而言，问题十分紧迫。他们生活在地球上最恶劣的环境中之一，生存状况极为脆弱。无论气候变化的原因如何，它都直接威胁着他们的生活方式。没有人比当地人更了解北极，因此他们并不满足于袖手旁观，听从外部专家的描述。在加拿大，因纽特人正竭力守护他们在该国最新领土努纳武特地区所获得的自治权，他们相信，在这个不断变化的环境中，生存下去的最佳希望在于将祖先的知识与现代科学的精华相结合。这本身就是一项巨大的挑战。

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CThe Canadian Arctic is a vast, treeless polar desert that's covered with snow for most of the year. Venture into this terrain and you get some idea of the hardships facing anyone who calls this home. Farming is out of the question and nature offers meagre pickings. Humans first settled in the Arctic a mere 4,500 years ago, surviving by exploiting sea mammals and fish. The environment tested them to the limits: sometimes the colonists were successful, sometimes they failed and vanished. But around a thousand years ago, one group emerged that was uniquely well adapted to cope with the Arctic environment. These Thule people moved in from Alaska, bringing kayaks, sleds, dogs, pottery and iron tools. They are the ancestors of today's Inuit people.

[p:c]加拿大北极地区是一片辽阔的无树极地沙漠，大部分时间被冰雪覆盖。进入这片土地，你便能体会到那些生活于此的人所面临的种种艰辛。农业根本不可能实现，大自然也只提供微薄的食物。人类最早在4500年前才开始定居北极，依靠捕捞海哺乳动物和鱼类维持生计。环境将他们逼到了极限：有时殖民者取得成功，有时则失败并消失无踪。但大约一千年前，有一群人脱颖而出，他们特别适应了北极的环境。这些图勒人从阿拉斯加迁徙而来，带来了独木舟、雪橇、狗、陶器和铁制工具。他们是今天因纽特人的祖先。

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DLife for the descendants of the Thule people is still harsh. Nunavut is 1.9 million square kilometres of rock and ice, and a handful of islands around the North Pole. It's currently home to 2,500 people, all but a handful of them indigenous Inuit. Over the past 40 years, most have abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in the territory's 28 isolated communities, but they still rely heavily on nature to provide food and clothing. Provisions available in local shops have to be flown into Nunavut on one of the most costly air networks in the world, or brought by supply ship during the few ice-free weeks of summer. It would cost a family around f7,000 a year to replace meat they obtained themselves through hunting with imported meat. Economic opportunities are scarce, and for many people state benefits are their only income.

[p:d]图勒人后裔的生活依然艰难。努纳武特地区面积达190万平方公里，遍布岩石与冰层，以及北极周边的少数岛屿。目前这里居住着约2500人，其中绝大多数是原住民因纽特人。过去40年中，大多数人已放弃游牧生活，定居于该地区28个孤立的社区，但他们仍严重依赖自然获取食物和衣物。当地商店供应的物资必须通过全球最昂贵的航空网络之一空运至努纳武特，或在夏季极少数无冰的几周内由补给船运送。一个家庭每年若用进口肉类替代自己狩猎获得的肉食，成本大约为7000加元。经济机会十分匮乏，对许多人而言，政府福利是他们唯一的收入来源。

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EWhile the Inuit may not actually starve if hunting and trapping are curtailed by climate change, there has certainly been an impact on people's health. Obesity, heart disease and diabetes are beginning to appear in a people for whom these have never before been problems. There has been a crisis of identity as the traditional skills of hunting, trapping and preparing skins have begun to disappear. In Nunavut's 'igloo and email' society, where adults who were born in igloos have children who may never have been out on the land, there's a high incidence of depression.

[p:e]尽管气候变化导致狩猎和捕猎活动减少，因纽特人实际上可能不会因此饿死，但人们健康状况确实受到了影响。肥胖、心脏病和糖尿病开始出现在以往从未有这些问题的人群中。随着传统狩猎、捕鱼和制皮技能逐渐消失，人们正面临身份认同危机。在努纳武特的“冰屋与电子邮件”社会中，那些出生在冰屋里成人的孩子，可能从未真正离开过陆地，因此抑郁发病率很高。

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FWith so much at stake, the Inuit are determined to play a key role in teasing out the mysteries of climate change in the Arctic. Having survived there for centuries, they believe their wealth of traditional knowledge is vital to the task. And Western scientists are starting to draw on this wisdom, increasingly referred to as 'lnuit Qaujimajatuqangit', or IQ. 'In the early days scientists ignored us when they came up here to study anything. They just figured these people don't know very much so we won't ask them,' says John Amagoalik, an Inuit leader and politician. 'But in recent years IQ has had much more credibility and weight.' In fact it is now a requirement for anyone hoping to get permission to do research that they consult the communities, who are helping to set the research agenda to reflect their most important concerns. They can turn down applications from scientists they believe will work against their interests, or research projects that will impinge too much on their daily lives and traditional activities.

[p:f]由于涉及重大利益，因纽特人决心在揭开北极气候变化之谜方面发挥关键作用。他们已在该地区生存了数个世纪，相信自己丰富的传统知识对于这项任务至关重要。西方科学家也开始借鉴这种智慧，这种智慧越来越被称为“因纽特卡乌吉马贾图克安吉特”（IQ）。一位因纽特领导人兼政治家约翰·阿马戈阿利克表示：“过去，当科学家来此研究时，总是忽视我们，认为这些人的知识有限，所以不会向他们提问。但近年来，IQ的信誉和分量已大幅提升。”事实上，如今任何希望获得研究许可的人，都必须先咨询当地社区。这些社区正协助制定研究议程，以反映他们最关心的问题。他们有权拒绝那些被认为会损害自身利益的科学家申请，或会对他们的日常生活和传统活动造成过大影响的研究项目。

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GSome scientists doubt the value of traditional knowledge because the occupation of the Arctic doesn't go back far enough. Others, however, point out that the first weather stations in the far north date back just 50 years. There are still huge gaps in our environmental knowledge, and despite the scientific onslaught, many predictions are no more than best guesses. IQ could help to bridge the gap and resolve the tremendous uncertainty about how much of what we're seeing is natural capriciousness and how much is the consequence of human activity.

[p:g]一些科学家质疑传统知识的价值，因为北极地区的活动历史并不足够悠久。然而，另一些人指出，远北地区最早的气象站建立时间仅追溯到50年前。我们的环境知识仍存在巨大空白，尽管科学研究不断推进，许多预测充其量只是推测而已。智商或许有助于弥合这一差距，解决我们所观察到的现象中多少是自然的随机变化，多少是人类活动结果的巨大不确定性。