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Canada Standard
2 days ago
- Science
- Canada Standard
A Milestone in Realizing a Vision for Canadian Leadership in Arctic Science: New exhibition about Indigenous Knowledge App opens at Canadian High Arctic Research Station
June 4, 2025-Cambridge Bay, Nunavut Today, a vision for Arctic science realizes a major milestone. Polar Knowledge Canada marks 10 years since its creation through a knowledge-sharing collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Arctic Eider Society. On display at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, is a new exhibition co-developed by the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Arctic Eider Society with support from Polar Knowledge Canada. The exhibition showcases SIKU: The Indigenous Knowledge App, as a practical application of Indigenous Knowledge taking a leading role in science. SIKU is the Inuktitut word for sea ice. SIKU, the mobile and online technology platform created by and for Indigenous communities provides a platform for communities to manage their own programs for harvesting, guardians and community-driven research and monitoring. The exhibition at CHARS, which is open to the public and will be on view until the end of 2025, tells the story of how SIKU was developed on a framework of self-determination and data sovereignty piloted by the Arctic Eider Society. With stunning imagery and interactive displays, visitors can learn how individual harvesters, as well as communities, use their own language and knowledge systems to document environmental changes and observations in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The exhibition is a symbol of the vision that began almost 20 years ago to establish a world-class research facility in the Canadian high Arctic. Polar Knowledge Canada was created in June of 2015 with the Royal Assent of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station Act . CHARS was built over the first five years and is now fully operational, hosting and collaborating with researchers from across Canada and around the world. The scientific program strives to advance knowledge of ecosystems in the North - terrestrial, freshwater, marine and air - to monitor and understand the effects of changes to the climate in the Arctic, where the earth is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the planet. To examine and test sustainable energy technologies and infrastructure solutions and how they work in the extreme Northern environment, in an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the North and the impacts it has on communities and the environment. And to understand the connection between community wellness and environmental health, such as the impact of diseases in animals that are traditionally harvested, as well as to communicate to Northern communities about how to protect themselves when consuming country food with the changes the mammal, fish and bird populations are experiencing. More about the exhibition: SIKU: The Indigenous Knowledge APP Divided into five sections, the exhibition, includes information panels and testimonials, as well as three videos, two activities for children and a feature presentation of the film People of a Feather. The first section introduces SIKU including a video The second and third sections delve into the importance of SIKU as a tool for Indigenous self-determination and for sharing Indigenous knowledge. Five project case studies from Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, Nitassinan and Eyou Itshee are featured in more detail. There are also videos about the SIKU Ice Watch and Goose Watch campaigns, which engage users in sharing knowledge about ice conditions and the spring goose migration. The fourth section zeroes in on projects around Cambridge Bay that use SIKU. One monitors the prevalence of biting insects, and the other is SmartICE, a well-established ice-monitoring program across the Arctic. The final section delves into the creation of SIKU by the Arctic Eider Society, an Inuit organization in Sanikiluaq, including its use as part of the Qikiqtait Protected Area initiative for the Belcher Islands Archipelago. Visitors can then grab a seat in the Knowledge Centre at CHARS and enjoy the award-winning feature film, People of a Feather, which portrays the unique relationship between Sanikiluaq Inuit and eider ducks. A comprehensive exhibition about the Inuit of Sanikiluaq, the Arctic Eider Society and the Qikiqtait Protected Area (including the SIKU App) will open September 26 in the Northern Voices Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. This exhibition is also presented with the support of Polar Knowledge Canada.
CBC
08-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Antarctica belongs to no one. But many countries are angling for a piece
Antarctica is like no place on Earth. The "White Continent" has lured explorers and scientists to its stunning, ice-encrusted landscape for two centuries. Countries have tried to carve up Antarctica and lay claim, but no one owns it. For 65 years, Antarctica — which is one and a half times the size of Canada — has been governed by a treaty of nations. But with rising geopolitical tensions and a shifting world order, that governance system is now under pressure. " The Antarctic Treaty is under considerable stress and strain, probably entering the worst period it's ever experienced," said Klaus Dodds, a professor at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Forged by 12 nations at the height of the Cold War, the Antarctic Treaty froze any countries' claims to territory and preserved the continent for "science and peace." "The Antarctic Treaty, first and foremost, is an arms control treaty," said Dodds, a political geographer with expertise in the Antarctic. He said the treaty was "incredibly important" because "it declared the Antarctic continent and surrounding ocean a nuclear weapons-free zone." Remarkably, for more than six decades, the treaty has mainly worked. But following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and U.S. President Donald Trump's increased deference toward Moscow, consensus among the treaty members is becoming harder to forge. "Before the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there was a certain amount of co-operation among key states," said Evan Bloom, formerly the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for the Arctic and Antarctica. "There is less co-operation now in both [the North and South] poles." "Until maybe just a few years ago, we talked about the Arctic as a place of relative stability, and the Antarctic Treaty as a framework for peace and stability. Now, both of those assumptions are being challenged," said David Hik, chief scientist at Polar Knowledge Canada, during an interview in Punta Arenas, where Canada recently signed an agreement with Chile to strengthen Antarctic collaboration. First all-Canadian Antarctic mission More than 16,000 kilometres from Canada, Antarctica plays a critical role in regulating the world's climate and helping to slow global warming. Yet it is already undergoing massive change, including record-high temperatures and record-low ice levels. The Canadian Navy's HMCS Margaret Brooke, an Arctic and offshore patrol vessel, sailed into Antarctica last weekend for an unprecedented mission, supporting a team of 15 Canadian scientists for two weeks of research. The navy is under strict conditions on how it operates inside the 60th parallel south, a circular latitude that includes the Southern Ocean and the South Pole. The Antarctic Treaty forbids any military activity outside of assisting scientific exploration or operations at research stations. "We don't have any aspect of sovereignty in Antarctica. That's not at all our mandate here," said Teri Share, commanding officer on HMCS Margaret Brooke. "We've done everything possible, basically short of painting the ship white and red, to really make sure we're seen as collaborative and helping to support the science piece, and not at all down here as a quote-unquote warship." There's no settlement in Antarctica outside science bases. Any nation's political weight there is measured by its science footprint. More than 40 countries operate research stations and summer camps. The U.S. has by far the largest footprint, with the McMurdo Research Station in the Ross Sea region, plus two other permanent bases, one right at the South Pole. The U.K., Australia, Germany and Japan have robust Antarctic programs as well. Russia has five permanent smaller bases and a handful of summer camps. China has made clear its ambition to invest more in the Antarctic, building out a new modern base, Quinling — its third year-round station, alongside two seasonal stations. "It's worth remembering there's a reason why China has established five Antarctic stations. It is preparing itself, like Russia, to potentially claim [territory] if it had to or thought it was advantageous," said Klaus Dodds. Even Iran has shown interest in the southern pole region. In a 2023 interview on Iranian state-controlled media, the commander of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, said that his country planned to build a permanent base there, saying, "it is not only military work but also scientific work that needs to be carried out." Military activity prohibited Since its signing in 1959 in Washington, D.C., the Antarctic Treaty's governance has survived. But there are new concerns that technologies at some of the research bases in the strategic southern pole region have a dual use for scientific and military purposes. "Countries are trying to figure out whether any of that is going on," said Bloom, who is now a global fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. The Antarctic Treaty bans military activity except in support of science, and a related protocol on environmental protection signed in 1991 prohibits exploration for minerals. "There's … a question about whether demilitarization will hold for the future and whether the mining ban will hold," said Bloom. "Right now they are, and that is a very good thing." Yet the outlook appears tenuous, especially with cuts to funding at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), which supports Antarctic research. Managers have been fired — part of Elon Musk's DOGE efforts — including one senior manager returning from her regular month-long work visits to McMurdo Station. Scientists currently working at the U.S. stations worry the Trump administration will slash more staff and support, especially as much of their work addresses global warming, which the Trump team has denigrated. Others have questioned the logic of pulling resources from Antarctica, given the increasing strategic value of maintaining a presence on the continent. Competition over krill Tension is also building over fishing rights set out in a related treaty governed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). At a CCAMLR meeting in Australia last October, China blocked the extension of existing management measures for Antarctic krill, a key part of the Southern Ocean food web. Norway, China and South Korea are currently the top harvesters of Antarctic krill. Russia and China have vetoed additional Marine Protected Areas, the last of which was agreed to in 2014. Only five per cent of the Southern Ocean is currently protected. "Countries like China and Russia [are] absolutely determined to make the pursuit of marine conservation as difficult as possible on the one hand and on the other hand, hell bent on absolutely asserting their right to fish in areas that I would argue are incredibly precious in terms of marine biodiversity," said Dodds. Quota limits are not being breached, but the krill industry is growing, with Norway and China building new, high-tech boats that use continuous pumping technology to almost quadruple what a traditional vessel can harvest, says Lynda Goldsworthy, a research associate at the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. "China has made it very clear, as is their right, that they wish to be more influential within the Antarctic Treaty system," said Goldsworthy. "They don't know where they want to go and how big they want this to be. So they're trying to block anything that will stop them from doing that in the future." WATCH | Hunting scientific treasure at the bottom of the world: Hunting scientific treasure at the bottom of the world 2 days ago Duration 2:32 'We need to do something to preserve this' Political tensions are also stepping on Canada's ambition within the Antarctic Treaty system. It signed on to the treaty in 1988, but it wants to elevate its power to be a voting member, a so-called consultative party. That is being blocked, says Dodds. "The last three or four years, Canada's claim to be a consultative party has been blocked, first and foremost by Russia," he said. That's because Russia wants its ally Belarus to be made a consultative party alongside Canada, and the decision has to be consensual. "Canada publishes more scientific work on the Antarctic than about two-thirds of the consultative parties. So, to my mind, it's an absolute travesty of justice that Canada is not a consultative party," said Dodds. The all-Canadian expedition to Antarctica this month is part of an effort to build up Canada's science diplomacy in the region, even though it doesn't operate its own research station, collaborating instead with scientists from other countries. The science team aboard HMCS Margaret Brooke was invited to visit the Brazilian research station on King George Island, which is studying climate change on the continent. "We are interested in glacier retreat, because we have a lot of retreat here," said Monica Petti, a Brazilian biologist working at the Brazilian station. "When you come to Antarctica and see how beautiful it is, the feeling is we need to do something to preserve this," she said. "Our world is crazy these days. I think the Antarctica Treaty is a good example that it can work. With peace and science, we can live a better way."
