How 'smart ice' is helping to save lives on Canada's thinning sea ice

Warmer winters mean lethally unpredictable ice, leaving already isolated communities too frightened to venture out for food and fuel. A new ice sensor project could change all that

The four men were napping in their Bombardier snow vehicle when disaster struck. They had stopped for a break on an overnight cargo run down the west coast of Hudson Bay when the ice beneath them gave way. Normally thick enough to take the load, the sea ice in northern Canada formed late last season. As the vehicle plunged into the freezing water, only one man escaped.

The accident in January 2017 was not a freak event. Warmer winters have brought a lethal unpredictability to those who travel on the sea ice, often by snowmobile, to fetch firewood, reach hunting grounds, and buy supplies from nearby towns. After an especially warm winter in 2010, a survey of the population in Nain, on the remote north-eastern coast, found one in 12 had fallen through sea ice. Beyond the immediate danger the incidents posed, the psychological impact was devastating. More than two thirds of the community said they were afraid to go out on the ice. People went without fresh food. They burned wooden pallets and furniture to warm their homes.