BE/CNH: An Integrated Investigation of Coupled Human and Sea-Ice Systems: A Comparison of Changing Environments and Their Uses in the North American Arctic

北美北极的因纽特人和因努皮特人一年中的大部分时间都依靠海冰旅行和狩猎。他们使用冰需要对冰条件的详细了解，以确保狩猎的安全和成功，而狩猎是他们的主要生计。然而，北极的海冰环境正在发生变化。从科学和本土知识的角度对海冰特征的研究发现，北极冰盖的范围和厚度发生了重大变化，猎人使用的海岸冰的厚度、稳定性和形成日期等某些特征也发生了局部和区域变化。因此，因纽特人和因努皮特人社区正在改变他们的日常和长期生计战略，并正在处理有时不再适用的传统知识和技能。与此同时，科学家们努力了解影响海冰变化的各种力量之间的相互作用，以及多个尺度上的变化变化。这两个群体如何在这个共同关心的话题上相互通报并从合作中受益？该项目将在环境变化的背景下调查因纽特人和因努皮特人猎人和海冰上岸或漂流的耦合系统的动态。一个多学科的调查小组将与阿拉斯加的巴罗和努纳武特的克莱德河社区合作开展这项调查。该项目的主要目标是(1)记录因纽特人和因努皮特人对海冰的知识和使用以及限制或促进这种使用的因素；(2)记录因纽特人和因努皮特人对海冰变化的观察和观点，并将其与科学观测相关联；(3)研究巴芬湾和楚科奇海地区海冰变化的异同及其社区互动，以及(4)记录因纽特人和因努皮亚特人如何应对各自地区的海冰变化，以及一个地区的不同方法如何为另一个地区的适应战略提供信息。该项目的主要智力贡献包括阐明整合科学和本土知识的框架，特别是整合对冰层状况的传统和科学观点，以及将大范围趋势与当地海冰变化进行比较。预计该项目将产生更广泛的影响，包括对北极土著社区、科学家和研究生进行关于环境变化及其后果的实践和理论研究的培训和教育。预计该项目还将为北极理事会的北极气候影响评估(ACIA)计划和政府间气候变化专门委员会第三工作组2005年气候影响评估报告提供重要信息。该项目得到了2003财年环境中生物复杂性特别竞赛的一个奖项的支持，该竞赛的重点是耦合的自然和人类系统的动力学。

Inuit and Inupiat hunters in the North American Arctic rely on sea ice for travel and hunting for much of the year. Their use of the ice requires detailed knowledge of ice conditions for both safety and success in hunting, their main livelihood. The sea-ice environment in the Arctic is changing, however. Studies of sea-ice characteristics from scientific and indigenous knowledge perspectives have found major changes in the extent and thickness of the Arctic ice pack as well as local and regional changes in certain characteristics like the thickness, stability, and dates of formation of the shorefast ice used by hunters. As a result, Inuit and Inupiat communities are making changes to their day-to-day and long-term livelihood strategies and are dealing with traditional knowledge and skills that are, at times, no longer applicable. At the same time, scientists struggle to understand the interactions of the forces influencing sea-ice changes and variations of change at multiple scales. How can these two groups inform each other and benefit from collaboration on this topic of mutual concern? This project will investigate the dynamics of the coupled systems of Inuit and Inupiat hunters and shorefast or drifting sea ice in the context of environmental change. A multidisciplinary team of investigators will collaborate with the communities of Barrow, Alaska, and Clyde River, Nunavut, to carry out this investigation. The main objectives of the project are (1) to document Inuit and Inupiat knowledge and use of sea ice along with those factors that limit or enable this use, (2) to document Inuit and Inupiat observations and perspectives on sea-ice changes and correlate these with scientific observations, (3) to examine the differences and similarities in sea-ice changes and community interactions with them in the Baffin Bay and Chukchi Sea locales, and (4) to document how Inuit and Inupiat cope with changes in sea ice in their respective regions as well as how different approaches in one region may inform the other regarding adaptation strategies.Anticipated intellectual contributions of this project include illumination of frameworks for integrating scientific and indigenous knowledge, particularly the integration of traditional and scientific views of ice conditions and the comparison of large-scale trends with local changes in sea ice. Anticipated broader impacts of this project include training and education of indigenous Arctic communities, scientists and graduate students in practical and theoretical studies of environmental changes and their consequences. The project also is expected to contribute important information to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) program of the Arctic Council and to the 2005 report on Climate Impact Assessments of Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This project is supported by an award resulting from the FY 2003 special competition in Biocomplexity in the Environment focusing on the Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems.