Climate change threatens Herschel Island

The Yukon's Herschel Island is being slowly washed away by rising sea levels caused by global warming, says the territory's historic sites manager.

Located off the territory's north coast in the Beaufort Sea, the territorial park contains many artifacts from its colourful past,including the oldest frame building in the Yukon, a former whaling station built in 1893.

There are also other historic buildings andmore than 100 graves of former residents,Inuvialuit and whalers.

The territorial government has moved the old whaling stationtwice to protect it from the rising water, says historic sites manager Doug Olynyk.

"What we are doing is moving these buildings back from the shore, but as I said, at some point or other we'll have to make a decision whether to abandon them," he told CBC News in a recent interview.

Without a reduction in global warming, the future of Herschel Island is fairly bleak, he says.

"If the predictions for climate change are true, the resources, the heritage resources on the spit, the settlement area of Herschel Island, will be submerged in 50 years or a century from now."

The Inuvialuit lived on Herschel Island for hundreds of years before American whalers moved in 1889.

Concerned about the impact the whalers were having on the local people, the Anglican Church decided to establish a mission on the island. The RCMP also opened a detachment in 1903 to assert Canadian sovereignty.

There are no longer any permanent residents on the island.