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Observations at the Churchill research centre so far
• Everyone carries a gun. Often a shotgun when they venture away from the city limits.
• Most people leave their homes and cars unlocked to provide a quick place to get away from bears
• Many of the people in Churchill left their taps running 24/7 all winter last year (6 months) so the water wouldn't freeze in their underground water pipes!!
• Water pipes underground are wrapped in special tape that has high resistance wires embedded in it. They are turned on in the winter to heat the pipes to stop the water freezing. There is lagging or insulation wrapped around this heating tape. In many houses the heating tape is broken so they leave the water running.
• A great deal of the land up here is frozen from 500mm below the surface. When you dig down and hit the permafrost it is like hitting concrete.
• 3 major ecosystems merge here in Churchill. The boreal forest, the tundra and the marine ecosystem of Hudson Bay.
• 2008 is the International Polar Year. The last international polar year was 1853.
• Black Spruce trees have fuzz around their stem at the tip of new growth. (this is very hard to see in driving rain and when the temperature is 2C)
• White Spruce Trees have tiny scales on their stem at new growth.
• Hudson Bay is about 1000km long by 500Km wide and not very deep. It is not as salty as the ocean.
• Chaff from the silos at the port at the end of town is dumped nearby and all types of viable seeds have blown away to the SE and grown all types of unexpected plants for this region.
• Prevailing winds are NE. They are so strong at times that the snow they pick up hammers the needles (leaves) on the Spruce trees and kills them. Many trees are bare on their NE side. No one needs a compass in Churchill. All you have to do is look at the trees!
• The skirt around trees is an indication of the snow depth in winter as this snow protects the needles from ablation (abrasion and ultimate destruction) Above this region there are no needles as driven snow has destroyed them.
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