Alaska’s Western Arctic Caribou Herd population is lower than at any time in over four decades. Climate change is the leading cause of the decline in the herd.

The incident appears similar to an oil and gas release in 2017 blamed on thawing permafrost and hot production fluids.

Questions raised about the impacts of vehicle exhaust and soot on snow deposition as well as dirt and dust from roads.

The Kivalliq Inuit Association says a road connecting the Whale Tail pit project to the Meadowbank mine, near Baker Lake, will bisect a caribou migratory route and will have more frequent traffic than any other mine in Nunavut.

The most recent study noted that Arctic thaw is occurring one to two weeks earlier than the first study, and the North Slope growing season is lengthening by 15 to 21 days. At the same time, however, caribou are maintaining the same reproductive timeline.

The size of a large caribou herd in Alaska's Arctic region has dropped by more 50 percent over the last three years, and researchers who have tentatively ruled out hunting and predation as significant factors for the decline are trying to determine why.