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Sea ice in Arctic Canada is melting and natural habitats are being lost because temperatures in the north are warming.

Each spring the sea ice melts early and forms late each fall. While this could mean easier access to Nunavut by ships, traditional native tasks like traveling, hunting and fishing depend on this ice. So do the habits of polar bears.

Polar bears rely on the fat in seals and other marine animals to sustain them through the winter and they need to be able to fish from sea ice to get this fat. With climate change making ice break up earlier, polar bears are having less time to access the seals.

Climate change and human development is also affecting habitats of animals living in the north.

Mineral permits are being pushed ahead and more land is being devoted to development than conservation in Nunavut.

The development associated with those mineral permits could drastically alter the landscape and lifestyle in the north. Elevated structures, like roads and oil pipes, fragment the landscape and are a considerable barrier to herds of large animals migrating through the ecosystem.

In a speech to Nunavut teachers (download transcript) World Wildlife Fund Canada's president Monte Hummel spoke about these issues.

He said that Nunavut is considering a road project in West Kitikmeot that would be a metre off the ground and cut through the migratory path of the Bathurst herd of caribou. He said Inuit have known for centuries that the path of caribou can be deflected with a line of stones only six inches high. Hummel said the future of Nunavut is dependant on how well land, water and wildlife are managed.

"The loss is having a cumulative impact on particularly wide ranging species and the ability of those populations to survive in the wild," says Peter Ewins, WWF's Arctic conservation director. "Some species are just unable to survive in those fragmented landscapes."