Climatic change could radically alter our traditional view of the Arctic.

Ice and snow and sub-zero temperatures have long been features of the northern landscape, but so too have steaming swamps, giant redwoods, and cypress groves. The arctic environment has never been one of stasis; indeed, there is every indication that a fluctuating climate will continue to be the region's dominant characteristic in the decades ahead.

In this issue of Northern Perspectives, produced in co-operation with Environment Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service (AES), we present some of the current thinking on climatic change and its role in shaping the northern environment- past, present, and future.

 In his overview article, Barrie Maxwell, Superintendent of Arctic Meteorology with AES, looks at the various factors influencing climatic change and speculates on some of the implications for northern Canada over the next century. He warns that "we should not allow the general belief that future climatic change is likely to warm up the Arctic delude us into thinking that everything will suddenly be easier to deal with in that region."

 However, clear consensus among scientists on the overall direction of climatic change has yet to be achieved. In his discussion of the permafrost environment, University of Calgary professor Stuart Harris contends that "available evidence does not support the concept of a major warming trend having commenced in the permafrost areas." And glaciologist Roy Koerner of the Geological Survey of Canada suggests that the earth's climate may, in fact, be due to return to the more "normal" condition of an ice-age.

 The effects of climatic change on human populations in northern Canada have often been sudden and dramatic. National Museums archaeologist Robert McGhee provides a fascinating glimpse into arctic Canada's ancient past, a time when small bands of hunters roamed across the barren lands in a continual fight against the harsh environment and the threat of starvation. Bringing things up to date, Environment Canada northern affairs specialist François Bregha points to some of the challenges climatic change entails for policy makers in Canada and throughout the circumpolar world.