Geographies of Inuit sea ice use: introduction Claudio Aporta Department of Anthropology, Carleton University D. R. Fraser Taylor Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre, Carleton University Gita J. Laidler Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University Sea ice is of critical importance to Canadians and especially to Canada’s northern people. Al- though there are various scenarios and projec- tions of how climate change will affect sea ice in the Arctic, there is agreement among sci- entists that: (a) the average extent and con- centration of sea ice cover is declining; (b) multiyear ice is thinning; and (c) the sea ice sea- son is becoming shorter with delayed freeze-up and earlier break-up timing (Lemke et al . 2007). On average, the extent of circumpolar sea ice de- clined between 1979 and 2000. This shrinking trend has accelerated rapidly, with a number of record low summer sea ice minima extents being recorded between 2002 and 2009 (NSIDC 2010). These cryospheric changes influence global cli- mate and interact with multiple other stressors to affect both people and ecosystems in arctic environments (ACIA 2005). Due to these transformations, Arctic waters are acquiring new political and economic sig- nificance (Byers 2009). Reduced sea ice cover- age creates new economic opportunities, such as resource extraction in areas that were previ- ously considered inaccessible. There is also in- creasing discussion about the opening of the so-called Northwest Passage for regular naviga- tion and associated planning of deep-water ports to facilitate navigation in different locations throughout the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Is- Correspondence to/Adresse de correspondance: Claudio Aporta, Department of Anthropology, Carleton University, Ottawa, On- tario, Canada K1S 5B6. E-mail/Courriel: claudio aporta@carleton. ca sues of sovereignty, pollution, emergency re- sponse, northern science, Aboriginal governance, northern policy, and national security are also in- tertwined with this reduction in sea ice thickness and extent (Abele et al . 2009). Therefore, at na- tional and international levels, the Arctic is be- coming a hot spot, in both literal and symbolic ways. Importantly, the Arctic is the homeland of Inuit, who have deep historical and cultural re- lationships with the marine environment. There- fore, changes in sea ice conditions, extent, and timing have cultural, safety, and economic implications for northern communities. Inuit or- ganizations and Inuit political leaders are pre- senting a variety of views on this situation from framing climate change as a human rights issue that threatens Inuit culture (Watt-Cloutier 2003) to stressing the resilient aspect of Inuit culture and considering the melting of sea ice as open- ing up new development opportunities (Nuttall 2009). Regardless of the position taken, there is agreement among Inuit about the profound impacts that climate change will have on their lifestyles and livelihoods. In this special issue, we present insights that Inuit hunters have shared with us about what declining sea ice means to them, re- flecting different perspectives that emerge from different communities. However, these narra- tives also share the following traits: sea ice is becoming less predictable, travelling and hunting on moving ice or at the floe edge has become more hazardous, the seasons of sea ice use are shortening, the sea ice is thinning, The Canadian Geographer / Le G´ eographe canadien 2011, 55(1): 1–5 DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-0064.2010.00339.x C  Canadian Association of Geographers / L’Association canadienne des g´ eographes