Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Change on Nunavik Marine Infrastructure and Adaptation Solutions

Since 1999, fourteen marine infrastructures have been built in the northern villages of Nunavik, Quebec. These infrastructures generally consist in breakwaters, concrete wharves, access ramps and floating pontoons. During the design of these infrastructures, no consideration was given to potential climate change influence on specific design parameters. Neither data nor projections were available at the time. Transports Québec, in collaboration with Kativik Regional Government, Ouranos and CIMA+ then developed a project aiming at evaluating the marine infrastructure vulnerability in a context of climate change in order to identify adaptation solutions and ensure these infrastructures will last and stay safe to use. In order to anticipate potential impacts of climate changes on marine infrastructures, storm tracks, water levels, waves, sea and coastal ice are being modelled in the Nunavik region. Climate change will impact the way storms travel. Storms can occasionally produce large waves and severe surges that both may impact the infrastructures in several ways. The longer ice-free season increases the probability for waves and storm surges to develop. The reduced stability of the ice cover increases the risk of ice-related damage on the marine infrastructures. Different models (sea ice, storm surge, waves) are being tested and validated in order to check the influence of the different storm track patterns and the run. Integration of all this information in a comprehensive marine infrastructure vulnerability evaluation model will definitely be a challenge, but the first results are quite promising.