The Cambrien Lake, Nachicapau Lake and Fort McKenzie area (the “CNFM”) has been attributed high conservation potential by Nunavik’s regional stakeholders due to its exceptional biophysical characteristics and its significance to the Naskapis. The CNFM’s important hydroelectric and mining potentials prevent strict protection status at this time, but the area is the subject of an agreement setting out specific commitments regarding mining activities and hydroelectric development.
Little climate-related information is available for the CNFM. A common framework of reference to assess its vulnerability and resilience to changes in climate is required for their proper consideration in decision-making. The overarching objective of the project is therefore to provide a synthesis of past, present and future climate variability in the CNFM through the identification of climate variables and analyses based on available models and local characteristics.
Generic and Naskapi-specific climate variables will be identified through report analysis and open-access keyword extraction algorithm, whereas past, current and future climate variability will be assessed through a literature review of proxy-based climate reconstructions, the analysis of existing meteorological data, the use of gridded products and the analysis of multi-model ensembles.
This state-of-the-art picture will act as a common basis to describe and quantify variabilities of the past, current and future climate in the CNFM, which will feed decision-making for future uses in the area.
