Alert, Nunavut

Alert (2011 permanent population 0,[1]  but with rotating military and scientific personnel), in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world,[2]  at latitude 82°30'05" north, 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.[3]  It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the present station, off what is now Cape Sheridan, in 1875–1876.

Alert has many temporary inhabitants as it hosts a military signals intelligence radio receiving facility at Canadian Forces Station Alert (CFS Alert), as well as a co-located Environment Canada weather station, a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) atmosphere monitoring laboratory, and the Alert Airport. ==Current events[ edit] == The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported in April 2006 that the heating costs for the station had risen. As a result of the rising costs the Canadian Forces proposed cutbacks to support jobs by using private contractors.[5]

Also in April 2006, the Roly McLenahan Torch, used to light the flame in Whitehorse, Yukon for the 2007 Canada Games, passed through Alert.

In August 2006, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made a visit to Alert as part of his campaign to promote Canadian sovereignty in the north.

The Olympic Torch passed through Alert on 9 November 2009 en route to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[6]

 ==Geography<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Orthographic projection centred over Alert, Nunavut.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Alert is located 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Cape Sheridan, the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island, on the shore of the ice-covered Lincoln Sea. Alert lies just 817 km (508 mi) from the North Pole; the nearest Canadian city is Iqaluit, the capital of the territory of Nunavut, 2,092 km (1,300 mi) away.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The settlement is surrounded by rugged hills and valleys. The shore is composed primarily of slate and shale. The sea is covered with sea ice for most of the year but the ice pack does move out in the summer months, leaving open water. Evaporation rates are also very low, as average monthly temperatures are above freezing only in July and August.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Other places on Ellesmere Island are the research base at Eureka and the Inuit community of Grise Fiord, 800 km (500 mi) to the southwest. ==Climate<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Location of Alert. Extension of the ice at 15 September 2008 (36 Mpx).<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Alert has a polar climate. The weather is very cold, and there is snow cover for 10 months of the year on average and sometimes snow from one year persists into the next year in protected areas. The warmest month, July, has an average temperature of 3.4 °C (38.1 °F), with only July and August averaging above freezing, and those are also the months where well over 90% of the rainfall occurs. Alert is also very dry, the fourth driest in Nunavut, averaging only 158.3 mm (6.23 in) of precipitation per year. Most of this occurs during the months of July, August and September, mostly in the form of snow. On average Alert sees 17.4 mm (0.69 in) of rain, the least of any place in Nunavut, between June and September. Alert sees very little snowfall during the rest of the year. September is usually the month with the heaviest snowfall. February is the coldest month of the year and the yearly mean of −17.7 °C (0.1 °F) is the second coldest in Nunavut after Eureka. Snowfall can occur during any month of the year, although there might be about 28 frost free days in an average summer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ccn_7-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Being north of the Arctic Circle, Alert experiences polar night from the middle of October until the end of February, and the midnight sun from the first week of April until the first week of September. There are two relatively short periods of twilight from about 13 February to 22 March and the second from 19 September to 22 October.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]

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Duchess' Involvment
In Early 2011, the Duchess moved to Alert and constructed a large base and home for herself there. As of 2014, she is the only permanent resident living in Alert.

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