Flooding extremes in Northern Canada are becoming the new normal
Larger flood events are becoming more regular in the Yukon and now researchers are trying to find out why and what they can do about it.
Canada’s Arctic has always been front and centre when it comes to the impacts of climate change. This past year the Government of Yukon declared a state of emergency for the Southern Lakes Region in response to high water levels and floods.
The combination of record snowpack, a delayed summer, and an intense warm spell caused lake levels to peak at record high elevations since hydrometric records started in 1950, and it seems the situation is only getting worse.
High water levels approaching the shore. (Emilie Joslin)
“We have been looking at water levels and flows, historical data, and we have been looking at how they evolve over time. Back in 2006, [high flows] would have been maybe a 1,000 year event or a 5,000 year event based on statistics. Now taking this flow into account we are in the area of 200 years or 100 years,” Benoit Turcotte, a Senior Research Professional at the Yukon University Research Centre told The Weather Network.
Now a team of climate change researchers at the university are looking at ways to help the community focus on long term adaptation and advanced forecasting. One of the areas of research has been concentrated on predictive tools that will form the basis of climate related risk assessment.
Watch the video to learn more.
Thumbnail credit: Emilie Joslin
