10 record(s) found.

Assessment of the Impact of Climate Variability and Change on the Reliability, Resilience and Vulnerability of Complex Flood Protection Systems

The impact of climate variability and change on the effectiveness of large-scale flood protection systems was measured against system variability, resiliency and vulnerability in this project. Adaptation strategies to maintain efficient flood protection in light of climate-induced changes are addressed.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Climate Change and Geomorphological Hazards in the Canadian Cordillera: The Anatomy of Impacts and Some Tools for Adaptation

In this project, researchers examined the influence of climatic factors, such as precipitation and temperature, on catastrophic geomorphic processes (e.g., landslides, river floods, and glacier outburst floods) in the western Canadian Cordillera. This included reviewing historical impacts in the region, analyzing rainfall-triggered events, and simulating rapid landslides. Information gathered allowed researchers to calibrate dynamic models that simulated the behaviour of climate-driven mass movements, including rock avalanches, debris flows and debris avalanches. Researchers also documented annual glacier-ice loss in the region, which was likely due to higher summer temperatures and lower winter precipitation. Glacier-ice loss was found to be an important prerequisite for catastrophic rock avalanches and outbursts from moraine-dammed lakes.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Mapping Permafrost Degradation (Yukon Territory, Nunavut Territory)

This project investigated the impacts of climate change on permafrost in high and low Arctic environments. Researchers assessed the potential impacts of climate change in areas of ice-rice permafrost and used a combination of remote sensing and field observation to assess recent terrain disturbance. The project also involved examining changes in thaw activity over the past 40-50 years to determine whether trends could be related to observed climate change.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information: Link available

Impact Of Climate Change On The Frequency Of Slope Instability In The Georgia Basin

In this project, researchers examined how slope instability (e.g., landslides and debris flows) in the Georgia Basin would be affected by shifts in precipitation patterns due to climate change. This involved first determining how changes in annual precipitation would affect rainfall intensity, then assessing how these changes in rainfall intensity would impact the frequency of slope instability. Researchers concluded that there would be an increase in rainfall intensities with durations of 24 hours, and this would increase the frequency of slope failures.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Impacts of Climate Change on Permafrost in Canada

In this project, researchers examined potential changes in the temperature and extent of permafrost in Canada due to projected climate warming. This was done by applying a climate-permafrost model within a geographical information system (GIS). They found that under a 2xCO2 warming scenario, total permafrost area would be reduced by about 28%, resulting in most of the western mainland, all of northern Quebec and the Mackenzie Valley becoming permafrost-free. Cold, stable permafrost would be confined largely to the Arctic Archipelago.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Climatic Impact upon Arctic Ice: Threat and Opportunity

Researchers assessed the reliability of different projections of climate change impacts on Arctic sea ice by bringing together data on sea ice (e.g., from data atlases, satellite products, and ice observing stations) with computer projections from climate centers and regional ice/ocean modeling. They found that ice has been thinning at a rate of 0-5% per decade, rather than by 40% over a few decades, as has been published in previous studies. They concluded that shifting patterns of Arctic ice, together with the timing and location of submarine surveys, led other researchers to overestimate the rate of recent ice thinning.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information: Link available

Full Report Location: Link available

Climate Change and Permafrost in the Environmental Atlas of the Beaufort Coastlands

This project examined the impact of climate change on the western Arctic coast of the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Results were incorporated into an Environmental Atlas of the Beaufort Coastlands, which provides a compendium of baseline information on the environment and physical setting of this region, and highlights potential sensitivities to climate change.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Recent and Future Warming in Northern Peatlands

The objective of this project was to examine and quantify the impacts of recent warming on permafrost stability in peatlands of the upper Mackenzie Valley. Researchers used aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite images spanning at least 50 years to quantify thaw at four locations (total 6 sites) ranging in latitude from 60 to 64°N. Results showed that significant thaw of permafrost has occurred at all sites over the past 50 years, resulting in a 33.9 to 79.2 % increase in unfrozen peatland area. Permafrost thaw in peatlands affects vegetation cover, drainage patterns, and rates of carbon accumulation.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report Location: Link available

Incorporating climate change into landslide hazard assessment mapping, Vancouver-Whistler corridor, British Columbia

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether climate change needs to be included as a factor in producing landslide hazard assessment maps for one of British Columbia's most vulnerable transportation and energy lifelines, the Vancouver-Whistler corridor. This project will provide geoscientific / geospatial information for land-use management and planning against the threat of landslides and will help decision-makers take into account the effects of climate change.

Project Status: In Progress

Further Research Information: Link available

Determination of Vulnerability of Communities in Nunavik to Climate Warming, and Development of an Adaptation Strategy

The 14 villages of Nunavik support a population of almost 10,700 and are spread along permafrost zones on the coastlines of Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay. The impact of climate warming on permafrost stability and the urban development requirements of a growing population have become the two main aspects of a problem that is creating an urgent need for an adaptation strategy. To accomplish this, the project will prepare a complete inventory of areas, buildings, and infrastructures at risk in case of thermal degradation of the permafrost in the 14 communities of Nunavik. It will also develop an improved understanding of the specific processes of permafrost degradation and its geotechnical impacts, including settling, active-layer detachments, and landslides during thaws. Finally, the project proposes to establish the climatic thresholds beyond which land and building foundations become unstable in order to develop a capacity to predict impacts based on either observed trends or predicted climate scenarios.

Project Status: In Progress