(CNN) -- Climate change is altering diets and lifestyles among
Inuit people, according to a scientist who has studied the human
face of global warming in the Arctic. Barry Smit, a professor at
the University of Guelph, Canada, has spent five years leading
research projects into how melting ice and changes in wildlife
habits are impacting the lives and livelihoods of far northern
communities. Among his most striking findings was that
increasing difficulty in hunting for traditional food was
leading to much more junk food in the Inuit diet. "People
looking at the health of the Inuit have demonstrated that the
traditional diet, which is almost exclusively raw meat, is in
fact very healthy for them," Smit said. "But because of the new
difficulties hunting, people are adapting their diets to what's
available in the stores. "The stores only have food that's easy
to transport and doesn't perish, so there are no vegetables. The
young people are increasingly eating highly processed junk food,
so we are seeing more tee