Tristan Pearce

University of Northern British Columbia · Global and International Studies / Natural Resources and Environmental Studies

Transportation systems in northern Canada are highly sensitive to climate change. We project how access to semi-permanent trails on land, water, and sea ice might change this century in Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland in northern Canada), using CMIP6 projections coupled with trail access models developed with community members. Overall trail acc...

In this Personal View, we explain the ways that climatic risks affect the transmission, perception, response, and lived experience of COVID-19. First, temperature, wind, and humidity influence the transmission of COVID-19 in ways not fully understood, although non-climatic factors appear more important than climatic factors in explaining disease tr...

While it is known that beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) are social animals, sociality within populations remains complex and poorly understood. Using aerial photographs taken in mid-July and early August 2019, we examined group characteristics and spatial organization of the Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga population in two distinct...

Increasing ice melting in the Arctic circle is predicted to open many sea- and land-use opportunities, but these will impose additional threats and challenges to the already changing Arctic ecosystems and biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of local communities. This Voices asks: how can we anticipate and manage sea-/land-use impacts in the Arc...

The Arctic is undergoing rapid climate change and is projected to experience the most warming this century of any world region. We review the societal aspects of these current and projected changes. Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge holders living in communities across the Arctic have detected unprecedented increases in temperature, altered...

Vulnerability to climate change is highly dynamic, varying between and within communities over different timescales. This paper draws upon complex adaptive systems thinking to develop an approach for capturing, understanding, and monitoring climate vulnerability in a case study from northern Canada, focusing on Inuit food systems. In the community...

We examine factors underlying hunting productivity among Inuit in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. Specifically, we focus on the role of gasoline use as the main variable of interest—commonly cited as a crucial determinant of hunting participation. Over the course of 12 months, 10 hunters recorded their on-the-land activities using a GPS...

Climate change is occurring at accelerated rates in the Arctic, and its impacts are being experienced by human communities in the context of other environmental and societal stressors. This paper argues that an assessment of human vulnerability to climate change requires knowledge of these stressors, including the interactions among them that influ...

Traditional Inuit cultural values and practices are integral to an Inuit understanding of health. We examine the role of sewing in Inuit women’s health in the Canadian Arctic in a case study of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. An analysis of data collected using semi-structured interviews with 30 Inuit women reveals that sewing contribute...

Climate adaptation is a priority for Arctic regions which are witnessing some of the most rapid warming globally. Studies have documented examples of adaptation responses in the Arctic, but assessments evaluating if and how progress is being made over time remain scarce. We identify and examine adaptation progress in the Arctic using a systematic t...

Indigenous peoples globally have high exposure to environmental change and are often considered an “at-risk” population, although there is growing evidence of their resilience. In this Perspective, we examine the common factors affecting this resilience by illustrating how the interconnected roles of place, agency, institutions, collective action,...

This Perspective develops a novel approach for assessing the vulnerability of complex adaptive systems to climate change. Our characterization focuses on the dynamic nature of vulnerability and its role in developing differential risk across multi-dimensional systems, communities, or societies. We expand on past conceptu-alizations that have examin...

This research comprises one of six regional reports, commissioned by FAO and IWGIA in 2019 to provide a synthesis on the state of knowledge of Indigenous peoples’ food security and nutrition at a global scale. This report was first presented at the FAO’s Expert Seminar on Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Peoples’ Fisheries in the Arctic Regio...

Arctic climate change has the potential to affect access to semi-permanent trails on land, water and sea ice, which are the main forms of transport for communities in many circumpolar regions. Focusing on Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland in northern Canada), trail access models were developed drawing upon a participatory process that connects Ind...

We examine how residents of Nawairuku, an interior village in Ra, Fiji, are experiencing and responding to recent social and ecological changes. An analysis of data collected using semi-structured interviews with 27 households reveals that household adaptability – the ability or capacity to adapt to the impacts of climatic variations – depends on a...

Changing environmental conditions are impacting the ability of Nunavummiut to travel on the land and ice. Climate change has altered environmental indicators beyond normal conditions that were observed in the past and the level of risk associated with the access to land has increased, directly impacting travel safety. Traditional knowledge plays an...

The concept of vulnerability is well established in the climate change literature, underpinning significant research effort. The ability of vulnerability research to capture the complexities of climate-society dynamics has been increasingly questioned, however. In this paper, we identify, characterize, and evaluate concerns over the use of vulnerab...

We develop and apply a systematic literature review methodology to identify and characterize the ways in which the peer-reviewed literature depicts how climate change adaptation is occurring in Australia. We reviewed the peer-reviewed, English-language literature between January 2005 and January 2018 for examples of documented human adaptation init...

We develop and apply a systematic literature review methodology to identify and characterize the ways in which the peer-reviewed literature depicts how climate change adaptation is occurring in Australia. We reviewed the peer-reviewed, English-language literature between January 2005 and January 2018 for examples of documented adaptation actions. O...

Current understanding of climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability among Inuit in the Arctic is relatively static, rooted in the community and time that case studies were conducted. This paper captures the dynamism of Inuit–climate relationships by applying a longitudinal approach to assessing vulnerability to climate change among Inuit...

Mangrove forests support a variety of ecosystem functions and services imperative for ecosystem health. Despite the importance of mangroves, however, mangrove forests worldwide are under threat from human development and climate change. To date, most research on mangrove change in Australia has drawn on approximately 40 years of remotely sensed ima...

This paper documents Inuvialuit TEK of beluga, including ecology and behaviour, hunting techniques, and food preparation under changing climatic conditions in Tuktoyaktuk, NT. Beluga Whale ( Delphinapterus leucas ) are an important food source for Inuvialuit in the western Canadian Arctic, a region that is experiencing dramatic climate change. Data...

Participatory scenario planning (PSP) approaches are increasingly being used in research on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability (IAV). We identify and evaluate how PSP has been used in IAV studies in the Arctic, reviewing work published in the peer-reviewed and grey literature (n = 43). Studies utilizing PSP commonly follow the st...

The past decade has seen a proliferation of community-scale climate change vulnerability assessments globally. Much of this work has employed frameworks informed by scholarship in the vulnerability field, which draws upon interviews with community members to identify and characterize climatic risks and adaptive responses. This scholarship has devel...

The Arctic is a global hotspot of climate change, which is impacting the livelihoods of remote Inuit communities. We conduct a longitudinal assessment of climate change vulnerability drawing upon fieldwork conducted in 2004 and 2015 in Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), Nunavut, and focusing on risks associated with subsistence harvesting activities. Specific...

Injury is the leading cause of death for Canadians aged 1 to 44, occurring disproportionately across regions and communities. In the Inuit territory of Nunavut, for instance, unintentional injury rates are over three times the Canadian average. In this paper we develop a framework for assessing vulnerability to injury and use it to identify and cha...

Objectives: Unintentional injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Nunavut, where the importance of land-based activities and reliance on semi-permanent trails create unique risk profiles. Climate change is believed to be exacerbating these risks, although no studies have quantitatively examined links between environmental condition...

The IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change, forming the interface between science, policy and global politics. Indigenous issues have been under-represented in previous IPCC assessments. In this Perspective, we analyse how indigenous content is covered and framed in the Working Group II (WGII) portion of the Fif...

It is commonly asserted that human communities in the Arctic are highly vulnerable to climate change, with the magnitude of projected impacts limiting their ability to adapt. At the same time, an increasing number of field studies demonstrate significant adaptive capacity. Given this paradox, we review climate change adaptation, resilience and vuln...

Community‐based adaptation (CBA) has emerged over the last decade as an approach to empowering communities to plan for and cope with the impacts of climate change. While such approaches have been widely advocated, few have critically examined the tensions and challenges that CBA brings. Responding to this gap, this article critically examines the u...

This paper examines the role of Inuit traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in adaptation to climate change in the Canadian Arctic. It focuses on Inuit relationships with the Arctic environment, including hunting knowledge and land skills, and examines their roles in adaptation to biophysical changes that affect subsistence hunting. In several ins...

Recent controversy has led to calls for increased standardization and transparency in the methods used to synthesize climate change research. Though these debates have focused largely on the biophysical dimensions of climate change, human dimensions research is equally in need of improved methodological approaches for research synthesis. Systematic...

Adaptation is a key component of climate policy, yet we have limited and fragmented understanding of if and how adaptation is currently taking place. In this paper, we document and characterize the current status of adaptation in 47 vulnerable ‘hotspot’ nations in Asia and Africa, based on a systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literatur...

Governments in many developing countries endorse sustainable tourism, despite associated practical limitations and challenges as a development strategy. Using the case of Cambodia, this paper illustrates how sustainable tourism issues in a developing country may be better understood through a systematic review of scattered relevant peer-reviewed an...

Indigenous people living in the Circumpolar North rely, to varying degrees, on the natural environment and the resources it provides for their lifestyle and livelihoods. As a consequence, these Northern Indigenous peoples may be more sensitive to global climate change, which has implications for food security, cultural practices, and health and wel...

Climate change will have far-reaching implications for Inuit health. Focusing on adaptation offers a proactive approach for managing climate-related health risks—one that views Inuit populations as active agents in planning and responding at household, community, and regional levels. Adaptation can direct attention to the root causes of climate vul...

This research examines climate change vulnerability and adaptation in three stages in the life of a mine, (i) inception and planning, (ii) operating, and (iii) post-closure (or remediation and restoration) through case studies located in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The report aims to provide insights on ways to enhance the competitiveness and adap...

The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constrained by limited methodological development on how to...

This article advances a vulnerability framework to understand how climatic risks and change are experienced and responded to by Inuit harvesters using a case study from Iqaluit, Nunavut. The article makes important contributions to methodological design in vulnerability studies, emphasizing the importance of longitudinal study design, real-time obs...

This paper develops a methodology for climate change adaptation planning in remote, resource-dependent communities. The methods are structured using a vulnerability framework, and community members, local stakeholders and researchers are engaged in an iterative planning process to identify, describe, prioritize and pilot adaptation actions. The met...

Research on the human dimensions of climate change (HDCC) in the Canadian Arctic has expanded so rapidly over the past decade that we do not have a clear grasp of the current state of knowledge or research gaps. This lack of clarity has implications for duplication of climate policy and research, and it has been identified as a problem by communiti...

This study maps current understanding and research trends on the human dimensions of climate change (HDCC) in the eastern and central Canadian Arctic. Developing a systematic literature review methodology, 117 peer reviewed articles are identified and examined using quantitative and qualitative methods. The research highlights the rapid expansion o...

The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of research into the human dimensions of climate change in the Arctic. Much of this work has examined impacts on subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping among Canadian Inuit communities. This scholarship has developed a baseline understanding of vulnerability and adaptation, drawing upon interviews w...

This article examines the interactions between sea ice change and patterns of cruise ship tourism through the Northwest Passage of Arctic Canada and how local communities are responding to this change. During the period 2006–2010, the Passage has emerged as the most popular expedition cruise area in the Canadian Arctic with an increase in planned c...

A survey documenting how climate change is perceived and responded to by Canadian mine operations was administered to a random sample of practitioners working at mine sites across Canada. Key findings include: (1) Mines are sensitive to climatic hazards; (2) There is concern about climate change among mine practitioners, but the majority have not y...

Climate change in the Canadian north is, and will be, managed by communities that are already experiencing social, political, economic and other environmental changes. Hence, there is a need to understand vulnerability to climate change in the context of multiple exposure-sensitivities at the community level. This article responds to this perceived...

The transmission of environmental knowledge and land skills was studied among Inuit men in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. A list of 83 skills important for safe and successful harvesting was generated with 14 active hunters and elders, and examined with a sample of 47 men. This research found that land skills continue to be transmitted...

Climate is an important component of the operating environment for the Canadian mining sector. However, in recent years mines across Canada have been affected by significant climatic hazards, several which are regarded to be symptomatic of climate change. For the mining sector, climate change is a pressing environmental threat and a significant bus...

This chapter compares the Inuvialuit communities of Ulukhaktok and Tuktoyaktuk in the western Canadian Arctic according to the CAVIAR analytical framework. The comparison highlights examples of similarities and differences in exposure-sensitivities and adaptations related to subsistence harvesting and community infrastructure. Subsistence hunting,...

Assessing vulnerability is an important component of human dimensions of climate change (HDCC) research. Vulnerability assessments identify and characterize who and what are sensitive to climatic risks and why, characterize adaptive capacity and its determinants, and identify opportunities for adaptation. This paper examines the importance of case...

Climate change is already being experienced in the Arctic with implications for ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. This paper argues that an assessment of community vulnerability to climate change requires knowledge of past experience with climate conditions, responses to climatic variations, future climate change projections, and...

This paper reviews scientific and gray literature addressing climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in the western Canadian Arctic. The review is structured using a vulnerability framework, and 420 documents related directly or indirectly to climate change are analyzed to provide insights on the curren...

We identify and examine how policy intervention can help Canada's Inuit population adapt to climate change. The policy responses are based on an understanding of the determinants of vulnerability identified in research conducted with 15 Inuit communities. A consistent approach was used in each case study where vulnerability is conceptualized as a f...

This letter systematically reviews and synthesizes scientific and gray literature publications (n = 420) to identify and characterize the nature of climate change vulnerability in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the western Canadian Arctic and identify gaps in understanding. The literature documents widespread evidence of climate change, with i...

"Research conducted with the communities of Arctic Bay and Igloolik in Nunavut identified key areas where policy can help Inuit reduce their vulnerability to climate change, focusing on the renewable resource harvesting sector. The policy responses are based on an understanding of policy development and decision making and on an understanding of th...

Research on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, particularly projects aiming to contribute to practical adaptation initiatives, requires active involvement and collaboration with community members and local, regional and national organizations that use this research for policy-making. Arctic communities are already experiencing an...

A survey documenting how climate change is perceived, experienced, and responded to in the Canadian mining sector was administered to industry practitioners at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada annual meeting. Nine key findings from the survey are discussed: (1) The Canadian mining sector is sensitive to climate-related conditions....

Research conducted with the communitites of Igloolik, Ulakhaktok, and Churchill in northern Canada documents increasing exposure to hazards associated with ice use for hunting and travel. This trend is related to changing ice conditions. Instrumental records show later ice freeze-up and earlier break up since the late 1970s. increasing temperatures...

For Canada's Inuit population, climate change is challenging internationally established human rights and the specific rights of Inuit as stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mitigation can help avoid 'runaway' climate change, adaptation can help reduce the negative effects of current and future climate change for Inuit population...

This paper presents research that integrates natural and social science data with the knowledge from commu- nity members to document the implications of climate change for travel routes, used by community members in Ulukhaktok to access seasonal harvesting grounds, and how policy decisions can enhance capacity to adapt in the future. It outlines st...