top of page
Educational Centre for Indigenous Environmental Justice

Background

Helpful Definitions

When discussing the fight against climate change and environmental justice, it is helpful to know a few useful terms that are common in relevant discourse. As you explore this website, there will be more definitions provided when new and important terms come up. ​

  • Climate Change: the long-term change of weather patterns and temperatures on Earth. This term usually refers to the human-induced pattern of climate change from emitting greenhouse gasses. ​

  • Greenhouse gasses (GHGs): gasses that, when emitted, trap heat into the Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a GHG that is commonly discussed due to its prevalence in the issue of climate change. ​

  • Environmental Injustice: the disproportionate pattern of certain populations of communities being exposed to pollution and other negative environmental crises such as climate change (Maantay, 2002). This website will address how Indigenous communities in Canada face environmental injustice and advocates for the inverse of this term, environmental justice. ​

  • Indigenous: a term that refers to peoples who have been settled in an area for a long time and have a connection to their land that has been adversely affected by the relatively new settlement of others. These adverse effects can come in the form of colonization, industrialization, displacement, and more. This website will refer to Indigenous Peoples in Canada.  The term “Indigenous Peoples” is used to recognize that there are many Indigenous groups in Canada (First Nations & Indigenous Studies n.d.)​.

  • Inuit: specific groups of Indigenous Peoples that live in the far north (First Nations & Indigenous Studies n.d.). 

  • First Nations: a term used to describe Indigenous peoples in Canada who are not ethnically Métis nor Inuit (First Nations & Indigenous Studies n.d.). 

Background Information

As the global climate crisis begins to take effect, populations across the world will, and are, feeling its impacts. Compared to records of global temperatures in 1880, the average global temperature has risen by at least 1.1° Celsius, according to scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration who analyze meteorological data and ocean temperatures (GISTEMP Team, 2022). In recent decades, this warming has begun to accelerate and rise at a faster pace than before. Temperatures have been recorded as increasing from around 0.15° to 0.20° Celsius per decade since 1975, a jump from previous decades (GISTEMP Team, 2022).

 

Seemingly small increases in temperature have severe impacts because the consequential changes in the environment from increments of a degree are wide-ranging. An average increase of 0.5° Celsius to the global temperature, for example, may have a much higher effect in certain areas and times, which means that conditions in a certain region could be 3 or 5 degrees hotter than before (Silberg, 2016). â€‹â€‹Large masses such as oceans and glaciers are also vulnerable to incremental changes in temperature. For example, a 2° rise in temperature would affect such a large amount of fragile glaciers and water in the oceans that sea levels would rise to flood cities and island countries (Silberg, 2016). 
 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

Although climate change is expected to increase in severity with time, the earth is already beginning to feel its effects. The IPCC has reported that increases in extreme weather conditions and changes in weather patterns have been increasing in frequency and severity. For example, rainstorms, droughts, and fires have been recorded as occurring more often and more extremely due to climate change. Humanitarian crises such as displacement and food insecurity have also taken place due to climate change’s effects on weather patterns and the overall global climate, according to the IPCC (2022).

Global organizations, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), have advocated for limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius, but these efforts have not succeeded (IPCC, 2022; UNFCCC, n.d.). Bold action will be required to prevent climate change from reaching a catastrophic level, such as it would in the projected scenario of a warming of 2.8° Celsius that is projected if no action is taken to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and continued levels of emissions remain consistent with current trends (UNEP, 2022). 

A fisherman in Nunavut. Photo credit: (Paton, 2020).

A fisherman in Nunavut. Photo credit: (Paton, 2020)

Map showing changes in the annual mean temperature (Celcius) in Canada from 1948-2016.

Map showing changes in the annual mean temperature (Celcius in Canada from 1948-2016. Photo credit: (Canada in a Changing Climate, n.d.)

As the ecosystem in the Canadian Arctic is highly vulnerable to changes in the weather, especially the increase in average temperatures, Indigenous communities who are populated there remain disproportionately impacted and vulnerable to climate change. Multiple Indigenous communities in British Columbia rely on marine fish that could decline up to 64% by 2050, according to an IPCC projection that assumes carbon emissions will continue increasing along a current path (Weatherdon et al., 2016). Salmon species native to Canada that provide essential nutrients to Indigenous communities could also decline by 12-47% by 2050 (Weatherdon et al., 2016)​

Canada has the longest coastline in the world and its Northern Arctic coast is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The annual average temperatures in this Arctic region rise from two to three times the speed of the global average (ACIA, 2004). The adverse effects of climate change are wide-ranging. Some of the most significant changes affecting Canada include the decrease of sea-ice formations, ice that occurs when parts of the sea freeze, and species of plants and animals moving northwards as the climate changes (ACIA, 2004).​

Other effects include a greater risk of flooding and forest fires, further erosion that will change natural landscapes, and decreased food security from disruptions to natural resources and species (Lemmen et al., 2016). Research comparing current Alaskan sea ice levels to records of those in the mid-20th century found that current sea ice coverage in May is comparable to previous levels in July (Hauser et al., 2021). As Indigenous Peoples in Canada have concentrated populations in the North-West of Canada, as seen in the map to the right, Indigenous communities are at a high risk of experiencing negative effects of climate change. In the other tabs of this website, we will address how climate change negatively affects Indigenous Peoples in Canada, including through cultural and health risks. 

Map displaying the percentage of Indigenous populations in each province and territory of Canada.

Map displaying the percentage of Indigenous populations in each province and territory of Canada. Photo credit: (Indigenous Services Canada, 2020)

Works Cited: Background

  1. ACIA. (2004). Impacts of a warming Arctic: Arctic climate impact assessment. ACIA overview report. Cambridge University Press.

  2. European Environment Agency. (n.d.). What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation? https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/faq/what-is-the-difference-between#:~:text=In%20essence%2C%20adaptation%20can%20be,(GHG)%20into%20the%20atmosphere.

  3. First Nations & Indigenous Studies. (n.d.). Terminology. University of British Columbia. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/terminology/

  4. GISTEMP Team. (2022). GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP). NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/.

  5. Hauser, D. D. W., Whiting, A. V., Mahoney, A. R., Goodwin, J., Harris, C., Schaeffer, R. J., Schaeffer, R., Laxague, N. J. M., Subramaniam, A., Witte, C. R., Betcher, S., Lindsay, J. M., & Zappa, C. J. (2021). Co-production of knowledge reveals loss of Indigenous hunting opportunities in the face of accelerating Arctic climate change. Environmental Research Letters, 16(9), 95003-. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a36

  6. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2022). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - Summary for Policymakers. 

  7. Lemmen, D. S., Warren, F. J., James, T. S., & Mercer Clarke, C. S. L. (Eds.). (2016). Canada’s Marine coasts in a changing climate. Government of Canada.

  8. Maantay, J. (2002). Mapping Environmental Injustices: Pitfalls and Potential of Geographic Information Systems in Assessing Environmental Health and Equity. Environmental health perspectives, 110, 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.02110s2161

  9. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). What is the greenhouse effect? https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/19/what-is-the-greenhouse-effect/

  10. Silberg, B. (2016, June 29). Why a half-degree temperature rise is a big deal. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2458/why-a-half-degree-temperature-rise-is-a-big-deal/

  11. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (2022). Emissions Gap Report. United Nations https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022

  12. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (n.d.). The Paris Agreement. United Nations. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement

  13. United Nations. (n.d.). What Is Climate Change? https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change

  14. Weatherdon, L. V., Ota, Y., Jones, M. C., Close, D. A., & Cheung, W. W. L. (2016). Projected Scenarios for Coastal First Nations’ Fisheries Catch Potential under Climate Change: Management Challenges and Opportunities. PloS One, 11(1), e0145285–e0145285. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145285

Works Cited (Photos) : Background

  1. Paton, F. (2020). A fisherman in Nunavut, Canada [Photo].

  2. Canada in a Changing Climate (n.d.). Trends in annual mean temperature for 1948–2016 [Map]. 

  3. Indigenous Services Canada (2020). Figure 1: Indigenous Peoples across Canada [Map]

bottom of page