Tuktoyaktuk

Coastal communities in the Northwest Territories of Canada were hit by a weekend storm, causing high winds and massive waves that led residents to scramble to save boats and cabins from being washed away.

Protecting the coast of Tuktoyaktuk from the onslaught of climate change is estimated to cost at least $42 million and is only guaranteed to last until 2052. Over the project’s 30-year lifespan, over 60,000 cubic metres of sand are expected to be brought to keep the beach intact.

After two foxes tested positive for rabies in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., health officials are advising anyone who has come in contact with a fox to contact the local health centre and report the incident immediately.

"If we can protect the shoreline for another 30 years, it will give us time to move inland because we all can't up and leave tomorrow," Mayor Elias said.

An advocacy group has put a price tag on the heaving roads and leaning buildings ubiquitous to the Northwest Territories.

"All it would take is one or two big storms and these houses you see behind me would be gravely at risk."

Richard Gruben was planning to hunt wild geese near Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. Instead, the Inuvialuit hunter ended up harvesting an iconic rodent — his first ever.

As the impacts of climate change threaten vital historical sites across the Northwest Territories, the territory's climate change archaeologist is working with communities to mitigate the damage.

The Arctic hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., is collapsing into the ocean as it loses up to a meter of coastline each year. The people who live there are in a race against time to preserve their way of life — and their community — before it is washed away.