Environment and Climate Change Canada

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...

In August 2013, NETCARE scientists conducted a campaign on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The goal of this campaign was to characterize the nature of ice nuclei in a marine environment. Measurements were conducted on the ambient levels of both deposition and...

This campaign took place in April 2015, with a focus on the characterization of ice clouds and pollutant levels, including black carbon, across the Arctic. The campaign was again a collaboration between NETCARE scientists and The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). Along with the POLAR 6, the...

From September 2014 to June 2015 NETCARE scientists conducted an intensive snow sampling campaign at Alert, Nunavut, Canada. Fresh snow samples were collected every few days and analyzed for black carbon, major ions, metals, elemental carbon, and organic carbon. Site Information:...

Ten NETCARE scientists were on board the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, a research icebreaker, studying atmospheric and oceanic composition throughout the central Arctic in 2014. The cruise departed from Quebec City on July 8, entered Lancaster Sound on July 17, underwent a partial exchange...

In 2016 NETCARE scientists conducted two measurement campaigns at the Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory (the “Alert Observatory”) on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic (latitude: 82.5163, longitude: -62.3085). The first campaign...

A large-scale aircraft campaign (on the German POLAR6 aircraft) took place in July 2014, based out of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, aimed to assess the different roles that oceanic input and long range transport from lower latitudes play in driving Arctic atmospheric composition. For five days in late...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...