A call for policy-makers to begin planning for the inevitable disappearance of glacier-fed rivers is one of the highlights of a no-holds-barred, University of Alberta-led accounting of the health of Canada’s mountains.
The 2018 State of the Mountains Report is a collection of expert summaries written to raise awareness about the ways a changing climate is transforming the alpine, put together by U of A mountain historian Zac Robinson, mountain ecology researcher David Hik and Lael Parrott from the University of British Columbia.
“Mountains are sentinels for larger global change,” said Robinson. “The change is alarming, but I’m optimistic because mountains are adored by people everywhere. That’s hopeful because people are paying attention to these types of things.”
In a more shocking example of the ravages of climate change, the report recounts the infamous Slims River (Ä’äy Chù) Piracy Event in southwestern Yukon. In the spring of 2016, the Slims River, a major source of water for Kluane Lake (Lhù’ààn Mǟn), effectively ran dry after the Kaskawulsh Glacier receded to the point that its dwindling meltwaters began flowing in a different direction. By August, the 81-kilometre-long Kluane Lake was a metre lower than its previous record low.
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Image via University of Alberta.