Environment and Climate Change Canada

This study investigated short-chain (C10-13) chlorinated paraffins (SCCP) in an Arctic marine food web. In zooplankton, fishes and ringed seals from western Hudson Bay, Canada, SCCP concentrations ranged from 38.3 to 687 ng g-1 lipid weight. Monte Carlo-simulated trophic-adjusted biomagnification...

Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) are harvested annually in Arviat and Resolute (Nunavut), Sachs Harbour (Northwest Territories) and Nain (Labrador) with the help of the communities in the context of an environmental monitoring program. Samples of meat, blubber, liver and kidney are collected for...

Black carbon is a short-lived, small aerosol (or airborne) particle linked to both climate warming and adverse health effects. It is emitted from incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels (i.e., fossil fuels, biofuels, wood) in the form of very fine particulate matter. Black carbon is not...

This project is part of the Northern Contaminants Program core monitoring and looks at contaminant levels in landlocked Arctic char from lakes in Nunavut over time. Landlocked char are the only top predators in most Canadian high Arctic lakes and, therefore, can serve as a sentinel species for...

Our current understanding of the factors that influence where birds nest is incomplete, yet such information is important for accurate demographic assessments. To address questions related to spatial distributions of shorebird nests and to evaluate factors that may affect nest distribution in...

Although the extent to which large-scale environmental change will affect birds that breed in arctic areas will vary among species, reduced reproductive success and population declines have been observed in long-distance migrants and species whose reproduction depends on non-climatic cues....

Monitoring of sea ice dynamics is of vital importance to our overall understanding of how the Arctic cryosphere is responding to changes in the Earth's climate. With the recent launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) in 2019 and the continuing operation of the Sentinel-1 (S1) fleet,...

The objectives of the present long‐term study, spanning a 45 year period, were to 1) investigate the temporal trends of total mercury (THg; muscle and liver) and selenium (Se; liver) in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) from different regions of the Canadian Arctic; and 2) examine possible...

The delivery of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from snowpacks into Lake Hazen, located on Ellesmere Island (Nunavut, Canada) indicates that annual atmospheric deposition is a major source of PFAS that undergo complex cycling in the High Arctic. Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCA) in...

This dataset contains the stable nitrogen (δ15N), carbon (δ13C), oxygen (δ18O), and hydrogen (δ2H) isotope data from 1123 samples of underfur hair of adult polar bears (Ursus maritimus) sampled between 1992 to 2017 from subpopulation boundaries (zone) in the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic....

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over five sites in the Keewatin - Southern Baffin Island Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate...

Recent and historical deposition of mercury (Hg) are examined over a broad geographic area from southwestern Northwest Territories to Labrador and from the U.S. Northeast to northern Ellesmere Island using dated sediment cores from 50 lakes (18 in midlatitudes (41-50 degrees North), 14 subarctic...

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 10 sites in the Arctic Coast - Islands Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change...

The Ice Thickness Program Collection contains ice thickness and snow depth measurements for 11 sites. Measurements are taken at approximately the same location every year on a weekly basis, starting after freeze-up when the ice is safe to walk on, and continuing until break-up or when the ice...

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 19 sites in the Lower Mackenzie River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada...

This dataset contains 2005 concentrations of total mercury (THg), gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), methylated mercury, dimethyl mercury (DMHg) in the water column of the Canadian Arctic. Mercury in the Arctic is an important environmental and human health issue. The reliance of Northern peoples...

Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) have been used as bioindicator species of environmental contamination in Canada since the 1970s. In the present study, seals were harvested during subsistence hunts in four regions of the Canadian Arctic: Beaufort Sea, Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay, and coastal...

This dataset contains concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in seawater sampled in various locations in the Arctic ranging from 2005-2008. Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are ubiquitous contaminants of marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, including remote arctic wildlife....

The atmospheric monitoring subcomponent of the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) studies long-range transport of anthropogenic organic pollutants in air (AOPA), mercury, and chemicals of emerging arctic concern from around the globe. This subcomponent includes three NCP Core Monitoring...

Concentrations of alternative flame retardants and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in ringed seal (Phoca hispida) blubber collected across the Canadian Arctic during subsistence hunts between 1998 and 2013. The presence of flame retardants in ringed seals suggests their...