A detailed study of climate change and the North suggests the impact on roads and other infrastructure will be even more severe than anticipated.
John Pomeroy of the University of Saskatchewan says projections in the newly published paper are the most precise ever made.
He says they show significant threats to crucial links such as the Dempster Highway, the only road from southern Canada to the Arctic coast.
The study predicts that by the end of the century, temperatures will have risen by six degrees, permafrost will retreat or disappear and flood-causing stream flows will almost double.
Pomeroy says the findings show that any new infrastructure in the North will have to be reinforced and redesigned to withstand the impacts of climate change.
Last year, the federal government promised $570 million over 10 years to build new roads and for other community projects.
