Editing Polynya (section)

== Human dependency ==
Polynyas have also supported human populations throughout history. For example, the [[North Water Polynya]], the largest and most biologically productive Arctic polynya, serves as a critical source of food in an otherwise barren region, enabling the existence of high-latitude human communities in the region for thousands of years.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Hastrup |first1=Kirsten |last2=Mosbech |first2=Anders |last3=Grønnow |first3=Bjarne |date=2018-03-01 |title=Introducing the North Water: Histories of exploration, ice dynamics, living resources, and human settlement in the Thule Region |journal=Ambio |volume=47 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=162–174 |doi=10.1007/s13280-018-1030-2 |issn=0044-7447 |pmc=5963564 |pmid=29516442|bibcode=2018Ambio..47S.162H }}</ref> It may have served as a stepping stone for the original settlers of Greenland as they traversed through what is now northern Canada 4500 years ago.<ref name=":2" /> There are also indications that the North Water Polynya has aided [[Thule people|Thule]], [[Inuit]], [[Norsemen|Norse]], and western explorers throughout history.<ref name=":2" /> Today, the North Water Polynya enables the existence of Greenland's northernmost towns, such as [[Qaanaaq]], [[Qeqertat]], [[Savissivik]] and [[Siorapaluk]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ribeiro |first1=Sofia |last2=Limoges |first2=Audrey |last3=Massé |first3=Guillaume |last4=Johansen |first4=Kasper L. |last5=Colgan |first5=William |last6=Weckström |first6=Kaarina |last7=Jackson |first7=Rebecca |last8=Georgiadis |first8=Eleanor |last9=Mikkelsen |first9=Naja |last10=Kuijpers |first10=Antoon |last11=Olsen |first11=Jesper |last12=Olsen |first12=Steffen M. |last13=Nissen |first13=Martin |last14=Andersen |first14=Thorbjørn J. |last15=Strunk |first15=Astrid |last16=Wetterich |first16=Sebastian |last17=Syväranta |first17=Jari |last18=Henderson |first18=Andrew C. G. |last19=Mackay |first19=Helen |last20=Taipale |first20=Sami |last21=Jeppesen |first21=Erik |last22=Larsen |first22=Nicolaj K. |last23=Crosta |first23=Xavier |last24=Giraudeau |first24=Jacques |last25=Wengrat |first25=Simone |last26=Nuttall |first26=Mark |last27=Grønnow |first27=Bjarne |last28=Mosbech |first28=Anders |last29=Davidson |first29=Thomas A. |date=2021-07-22 |title=Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=4475 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-24742-0 |pmid=34294719 |pmc=8298575 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.4475R |issn=2041-1723 }}</ref>