Alert, Nunavut, located in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Canada, holds the distinction of being the northernmost continuously inhabited place on Earth. Situated on Ellesmere Island, part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Alert is a mere 817 kilometres (508 miles) from the North Pole. The community is named after HMS Alert, a British ship that wintered nearby in 1875–1876. Today, Alert is home to a military signals intelligence radio receiving facility, a weather station, a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) observatory, and the Alert Airport.
Alert's history is closely tied to its namesake, HMS Alert. The ship's captain, George Nares, and his crew were the first recorded Europeans to reach the northern end of Ellesmere Island. Over the years, several other expeditions passed through the area, including Robert Peary's 1909 expedition to reach the North Pole.
After World War II, Charles J. Hubbard of the United States Weather Bureau sparked interest in establishing a network of Arctic stations. This led to the creation of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS), with Alert being the last of the five to be settled in 1950. The station's construction began immediately, with the first priority being the creation of an ice runway on Alert Inlet.
In recent years, Alert has seen visits from notable figures such as Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and his son, future prime minister Justin Trudeau. The Government of Canada opened the Alert Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network in 1986. By the 1990s, the original buildings of the weather station were replaced, and the station and observatory offices were moved to Polaris Hall.
Alert's remote location and challenging conditions have resulted in several aircraft incidents, some of which have involved fatalities. These incidents underscore the difficulties of operating in such a remote northern location.
The Canadian Armed Forces have shown interest in Alert for its strategic importance and its potential for intercepting radio signals. Alert Airport was established in 1950 and is currently part of the Canadian Forces Station Alert. The station has been a key asset in the global ECHELON network of the AUSCANNZUKUS intelligence sharing alliance.
In 2006, due to rising heating costs, the military proposed to cut back on support trade positions by using private contractors. By 2008, maintenance operations on the station had been transferred to a civilian contractor.
In 1975, technicians began collecting flask samples for a greenhouse gas monitoring program. This led to the construction of a permanent observatory, which was opened in 1986 and renamed the Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory.
While Alert has no permanent residents, it has been continuously inhabited since 1950. Its current population ranges from a winter minimum of 65 to a summer maximum of 110, plus a variety of short-term visitors.
Alert is located on the shore of the ice-covered Lincoln Sea. The settlement is surrounded by rugged hills and valleys, and the shore is composed primarily of slate and shale. The sea is covered with sea ice for most of the year.
Alert has a polar climate, with complete snow cover for at least 10 months of the year. The warmest month, July, has an average temperature of 3.4 °C (38.1 °F). Alert is also very dry, averaging only 158.3 mm (6.23 in) of precipitation per year.
