Combining current and projected populations at settlement level with permafrost extent, this study presents the first estimates of the number of inhabitants on permafrost in the Arctic Circumpolar Permafrost Region (ACPR) and project changes as a result of permafrost thaw.
Using a database, containing annual time series of population and net migration from 43 communities over 1990–2014, the authors systematically test for climigration by comparing out-migration rates from the most threatened communities with those from other, generally similar places.
The authors infer the presence and population size of paleoeskimos on western Victoria Island and suggest that a rapid decline of population size was due to an overhunting of musk-ox.
The authors show that Thule Inuit whaler settlements caused noticeable changes to the water quality and ecology of the circumpolar Somerset Island between about 1200 and 1600 AD despite relatively low population densities.
The authors learned that pathogens associated with human tourism has not spread to Antarctic wildlife.
