Positive Feedback From Our Arrival in Nunavut
Our research and film crew from the South met yesterday in Ottawa and flew to Iqaluit on Canadian North (one of our airline sponsors for the project). It was a bright sunny day to soar through the sky like a tulugaq - raven in Inuktitut - with the frozen land below.
While looking down, I thought about the terrestrial carbon and methane locked in the Arctic permafrost, and how research scientists believe that this is a major source of greenhouse gases, which could be unlocked should climate change melt this permanently frozen ground (i.e. permafrost). Some call it a climate change "time bomb":
Click here for a report on Melting Permafrost.
It's a classic example of "positive feedback", which is a term in cybernetics that refers to how a system operates, and does not necessary mean that it's intrinsically positive. Positive feedback actually refers to an "unstable system" that is getting further away from its original state due to a specific perturbation. In the case of permafrost, already experienced Arctic warming caused by elevated greenhouse gases cause the frozen land to melt, which further releases additional greenhouse gases, which further causes warming, and so on. No doubt, once we begin talking about climate change with Inuit elders, you'll hear more about how the land is melting on this blog.
After collecting our equipment at the airport, we split for the hotel, and started geeking around with the equipment and talking. We went for supper and when walking back into the hotel one of my best pals from Pang, Norman Mike, was sitting in the lobby. Norman and I did a double take and realized we were looking at each other and began to celebrate the serendipitous meeting.
The rest of our crew - Dexter, Richard and Lucie - all went to bed and Norman and I sat and talked in the lobby for hours. Norman and I have been talking for years about how an Inuit knowledge and climate change project would be very useful for his community and he was very excited that it is finally happening. Positive feedback...but the type that is beneficial and not harmful...a good start indeed.
Today we're meeting up with Zacharias and our northern crew and we'll be flying to Pang together. We'll keep ya' posted on how things unfold. Be well.
