CHURCHILL, Manitoba (AP) — Change has broken, remade and continues to reshape this isolated town where tundra meets forest on the shore of Hudson Bay.
The local economy collapsed when the army left the city. The rail service and cargo ships, which were essential to supplying a city unconnected to the rest of the world by road, have ceased to function. The climate is warming, iconic animals are diminishing, and even the soil is shifting.
Despite all this, Churchill has adapted. The city has turned to tourism, attracting people eager to see its many polar bears. Leaders have found ways to revitalize its port and railway. climate change came into the picture, they began to design more flexible buildings and seek to attract a more varied range of visitors if, As scientists fear, the melting of sea ice is accelerating the bear population.
Residents, government officials and experts say the city is a model for dealing with radical change and attribute that to the rural mentality that focuses on repair, not complaint.
Churchill is located about 1,700 kilometres (1,055 miles) north of Winnipeg. The city once had a population of thousands the military base And a rocket research launch site The railways were closed decades ago. These sites fell into disrepair and what was once a bustling port closed. Rail service was disrupted for more than a year as bad weather destroyed poorly maintained tracks.
As the city shrank, bears began to come to town more often, no longer frightened by the noise of the base and rocket launches and despairing over the receding climate change. Hudson Bay ice they depend on it as a hunting base.
A local mechanic built an over-equipped recreational vehicle with large tires to see the bears safely. The photos and documentaries have attracted tourists, who spend an average of $5,000 per visit and millions of dollars in totalChurchill now bills itself as the polar bear capital of the world and, although it has no traffic lights, it has upscale restaurants and plenty of family-friendly hotels.
If it does end, Churchill hopes to be ready.
The city is promoting beluga tourism, even though belugas themselves are at risk from the shift of the Hudson Bay ecosystem, including the belugas’ food supply, to an environment normally seen further south. It is also promoting opportunities for visitors to view the Northern Lights, spot birds they can’t see at home and even try dog sledding.
“Over time, bear season is going to go away. And we know that. Either way, we’re going to have to adapt to that change,” said Mike Spence, who has been mayor since 1995. “You can’t dwell on it. It’s not going to win you any points.”
Spence grew up with the military installation, “and all of a sudden it closes and then all of a sudden you have the tourists and the abundance of wildlife and the Northern Lights. That’s when you take advantage of it. You change things and you make life better.”
The port closed and the railways damaged? The city took them back and put them back into service. The ground is sinking because the weather is getting wetter and the permafrost…
