Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Heat wave caused increase in melt of glaciers

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Jul, 2021 03:55 PM
  • Heat wave caused increase in melt of glaciers

A sizzling heat wave during the last week of June in Western Canada left little unsinged, including fragile glaciers that are already melting at an accelerated pace, experts say.

Dozens of temperature records were shattered during the period, including a Canadian record of 49.6 C in Lytton, B.C., the day before fire destroyed most of the community.

Brian Menounos, the Canada Research Chair in glacier change at the University of Northern British Columbia, said even at elevations of 3,000 metres, it was about six degrees above average.

"Warmer than anything we've seen, so it was clearly a warm, quite a warm event."

He and other scientists are working on quantifying the glacier melt caused by the heat wave, Menounos said.

Most of the glaciers in Alberta and B.C. mountains "haven't been in a good state" and are projected to disappear by the end of the century due to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change caused by human activity, he said.

Jeffrey Kavanaugh, an associate professor from the faculty of science at the University of Alberta, estimated the ice melt during June's so-called heat dome on the Wapta icefield was three times what was normal over the past dozen years. The Wapta icefield is the source of the Bow glacier and river.

He looked at data from June 25 through July 4, and compared it with temperatures for the same interval over the previous 12 years.

The temperature only dipped below zero once in that time; all other nights it remained as high as 7.5 C.

"Because the increased melt during the heat dome event melted away the snowpack in many places and exposed glacier ice, this changed the melt rate for the rest of the summer," Kavanaugh said.

"So, melt will be increased compared to a normal summer. Even if temperatures are normal, we'll still see more melt the rest of the summer than we would have otherwise. It's an impact that will carry on at least until the snow falls and covers the glaciers again."

Menounos said the heat coincided with the summer solstice, when the northern hemisphere gets the "maximum energy" from the sun.

"It was really kind of a one-two punch."

Smoke from the hundreds of fires burning in the province is an added problem, with soot that increases melting and a smoke cover that reduces sunlight but also traps heat to increase thawing of glaciers, he said.

"It's a complicated research topic that many people are starting to study and try to better understand," Menounos added.

This rate of glacier melt is usually seen in late July and August, he said.

Glaciers will see a "longer melt season" if temperatures continue to remain above normal, he noted.

"Glaciologists are concerned any time you get conditions that are going to sustain melt for, you know, substantial amounts of time."<

MORE National ARTICLES

Toddler bitten by coyote in Stanley Park

Toddler bitten by coyote in Stanley Park
A two-year-old girl is recovering from bite wounds after she was attacked by a coyote while walking through Stanley Park, in Vancouver.

Toddler bitten by coyote in Stanley Park

Full steam ahead for expanded Richmond Hospital

Full steam ahead for expanded Richmond Hospital
The cost is approximately $860.8 million and will be shared by the provincial government through Vancouver Coastal Health and the Richmond Hospital Foundation.

Full steam ahead for expanded Richmond Hospital

Makeshift COVID hospital to close in Vancouver

Makeshift COVID hospital to close in Vancouver
The makeshift hospital at the Vancouver Convention Centre, which was repurposed with COVID-19 overflow beds, is being shut down without ever taking patients.

Makeshift COVID hospital to close in Vancouver

Burrard Skytrain station in Downtown Vancouver to remain closed for 2 years as of early 2022

Burrard Skytrain station in Downtown Vancouver to remain closed for 2 years as of early 2022
TransLink today announced that it will be proceeding with a major upgrade to Burrard SkyTrain Station beginning in early 2022. The project will take approximately two years to complete and will require the closure of the station to allow the work to be done safely and more efficiently than were it to remain partially open during construction.

Burrard Skytrain station in Downtown Vancouver to remain closed for 2 years as of early 2022

33 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

33 COVID19 cases for Tuesday
In addition, 80.2% (3,470,198) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 49.1% (2,125,179) have received their second dose.

33 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

Documents detail BoC's bond buying on federal debt

Documents detail BoC's bond buying on federal debt
The briefing note from late last year appears to gloss over the bond-buying program despite the extraordinary effect it was having on debt yields.

Documents detail BoC's bond buying on federal debt