In brief
As permafrost thaws in Canada's Tuktoyaktuk, Indigenous residents made serious decisions about relocation due to severe land erosion.
In the Western Arctic of Canada, the Indigenous community of Tuktoyaktuk is grappling with a pressing problem: their hamlet is sinking into the thawing permafrost. As temperatures rise due to climate change, permafrost melts, causing large landslides and deep craters on the land, creating dangerous new landscapes. Jaden Cockney, a 17-year-old local, along with his supervisor William Dillon, is part of a team assessing these environmental changes. Dillon, an Inuvialuit elder, has dedicated three decades to studying the land, witnessing its rapid transformation firsthand. The community, historically rooted in this Arctic region, now faces the potential reality of becoming Canada’s first climate refugees, as rising waters from the Beaufort Sea threaten their home. With permafrost weakening underneath their feet, the urgency for a plan has never been greater, yet the timeline for relocation remains a subject of debate among residents.
