Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland

Aasivissuit – Nipisat, an Inuit hunting ground in west Greenland, has witnessed significant climatic shifts over the past 2000 years. Research reveals three distinct climate regimes: a warm and humid period from c. 560–1100 CE, followed by cooler and arid conditions from 1100–1600 CE, marked by increased sea ice and wildfires leading to temporary caribou abandonment. The current period (from 1600 to present) shows a trend of warming, increased precipitation, and reduced sea ice cover. Despite these changes, the hunting ground remained in use, demonstrating the resilience of Inuit hunters. The study, based on lake sediment core analysis and chemical proxies, underscores the advantages and limitations of local environmental reconstructions while highlighting human adaptation to climatic variability.

Strunk, A., Krüger, S., Jensen, J. F., Olsen, J., & Jessen, C. (2024). Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland. The Holocene, 34(8), 1025–1035. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301