Ice-melt isolates remote communities in Canada

Graphic shows the region of northern Ontario represented by Nishnawbe Aski Nation, where 34 Aboriginal communities are accessible only by air for most of the year. Bulk goods are shipped in the winter over frozen rivers and lakes, but the shipping season is shrinking as average temperatures rise. (Graphic/Reuters)

Aboriginal communities in Ontario's far north are becoming increasingly isolated as rising temperatures melt their winter route to the outside world and impede their access to supplies.

"The ice doesn't have its solid blue color any more," said Stan Beardy, the grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents Ontario's remote First Nations. "It's more like Styrofoam now, really brittle."

"With the toxic waste moving north, and global warming, we don't have that solid ice anymore, and that's why we have problems with winter roads when it's mild."