Late last month, the carcasses of a dozen or more caribou were found along the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road by someone who said the slaughter and wastage was an act of disrespect and greed.

But first tests show very little new snow cover on the glacier from this past winter: ”The snow depth was only 1.2 metres — we had at least double that amount in previous years,” says Nina Kirchner, director of the Tarfala research station.