An area encompassing Old Crow has seen one of the largest warm-ups in the country, with the average annual temperature rising by about 3.5 C between 1948 and 2016 compared to the national average of 1.7 C, according to a recent government report .

Canada’s North is warming three times faster than the global average. Nowhere is this more acutely felt than in places such as Old Crow, the northernmost community in Yukon and home to the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. Earlier this year, Vuntut Gwitchin became among the first Indigenous communities to declare a climate emergency . Last week, Whitehorse, Yukon's capital, also declared a climate emergency.

Indigenous peoples and people of colour are disproportionately affected by our global climate crisis. But in the mainstream green movement and in the media, they are often forgotten or excluded. This is Tipping Point , a new VICE series that covers environmental justice stories about and, where possible, written by people in the communities experiencing the stark reality of our changing planet.

Vuntut Gwitchin member Paul Josie tells us what it’s like living through a climate crisis, how Old Crow has changed, and how science is just starting to catch up with their traditional knowledge and observations.

My name is Paul Josie. I am 33. I am a Vuntut Gwitchin member and Old Crow is my home. It is the most northwestern community in Canada and has a population of 280 to 300, depending on the season.

Just recently, our chief, Dana Tizya-Tramm, declared a climate change emergency. Over the past few years, we have been seeing a lot of changes on the land. I guess a lot of it comes with being above the Arctic Circle. We are the front lines of climate change and we’ve known that for a long time.