A permafrost scientist in the N.W.T. is leading an experiment that compacts snow near the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway to see if that will slow down permafrost thaw and protect buildings and roads built atop it.

The church is no outlier — several buildings in the community are affected by freeze-thaw cycle of permafrost. Even an iconic church is not immune from changing permafrost.

While most of Canada has been experiencing a colder winter, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk have had their warmest February since 2006.

The Arctic is expected to get warmer and wetter by the end of this century and new research says that could mean trouble for infrastructure in Inuvik.

Government scientists have found an island in the Beaufort Sea that is shedding as much as 40 metres of ground each summer.

For years now, buildings in Inuvik have been sinking due to thawing permafrost. It's part of a worrying trend across the Arctic, writes David Michael Lamb.

The runway, built in 1958, is over-top of permafrost and frozen soils.