Aboriginal people and scientists are starting to talk the same language when it comes to climate change in the Arctic. Dramatic shifts in weather, ice and animal behaviour have been reported by many First Nations in the North.

In scientific terms, that's called 'traditional' or 'anecdotal knowledge' and it hasn't been given much weight in the past. But that's starting to change.

Aboriginal people have a name for the scientists who jet into the North, spend the summer doing research, never talk to the locals and fly home when winter arrives. They're called 'snowbirds.'

Until recently, researchers didn't give much scientific weight to tales told by elders who keep an eye on the land, who measure climate change in the thickness of an animal's fur or the thinning of the sea ice. Andy Carpenter watches over his community of Sach's Harbour, on the edge of the Beaufort Sea.

"Different kinds of birds are coming up," he says. "There's other species of fish that we've never gotten before, like the pink salmon. There's less ice. You know it's warmer waters I guess."

Stewart Cohen, who is one of Canada's leading scientists on the climate change file, says researchers are starting to value that kind of information. "You can't dispute the fact that if permafrost is thawing, climate has had something to do with this. You can't dispute the fact that if you've got strange species of wildlife showing up on your doorstep that you haven't seen in 50 years, climate has had something to do with that. And these are very powerful messages."

Cohen says it's impossible to understand this complex issue and knowledge of the past is becoming vital to scientists as they try to predict the future of climate change.