Inuit Are Embedding Sensors in the Ice Because It's Getting Dangerously Thin-Austin Wallace

Due to drastic thinning of the ice, many of the areas inhabited by northern Canada's native inuit people have become increasingly dangerous. For centuries, the inuit people have used "traditional" knowledge and means for gauging the thickness and safety of the ice, but with the ever increasing role of man in the destruction of the ice cover, it has become not only difficult, but dangerous to rely solely on the old way of doing things. This has left many inuit people with choosing between their culture and traditions, and their very lives. Trevor Bell, a collaborator on the SmartICE project, however, sees it differently. He claims, "We're not trying to replace traditional knowledge, we're trying to augment traditional knowledge, with new technology."

SmartICE's buoy like censors work by freezing directly into the ice and transmitting electromagnetic waves to determine it's thickness. Trevor Bell goes on to talk about how researchers and scientists would come up and use much of the same equipment, but would never give any feedback to the people actually living there. Thats where SmartICE is different. When deciding where to place the sensors, they talked to real hunters and trappers, asking them where the most unpredictable areas of the ice were, the areas in need of this technology the most. From the very beginning this project has been dedicated to the villages and communities living on the ice, and SmartICE has included them in every step in the process. They hope to one day evolve the project into a social enterprise run by the communities of the north as the data received by the SmartICE censors is not only useful to the villagers, but to companies looking to set up in the region. With plans for a smartphone app and expansion to many other communities, SmartICE is offering a much needed solution to the inuit people, all while maintaining their emphasis on the importance of traditional knowledge.

What SmartICE seeks to accomplish by combining new technologies with traditional knowledge reminds me of how the europeans brought horses and other advancements to the native people of the americas during the columbian exchange. While this technology is potentially life saving, it also has the potential to change the way of life for many people who hold their traditions very dear, in much the same way many native american civilizations became nomadic after obtaining horses. It is a difficult balance, but if SmartICE can pull it off, they have the potential to vastly improve the lives of a people who affected by global warming not just in theory, but as a very tangible reality.

Source: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/arctic-climate-change-smartice-nain-labrador-pond-inlet