Folio
September 17, 2020
Butterflies are ‘sentinels’ of climate change in mountain ecosystems, say researchers
Mountains and butterflies are conceptualized as the ultimate juxtaposition—enduring and resolute versus fleeting and delicate—but the surprising robustness of alpine butterflies could help scientists better understand the impact climate change is having on mountains.
UBC’s Okanagan News
September 3, 2020
State of the Mountains highlights highs and lows of climate change
Each year the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) issues a State of the Mountains report, tallying what climate change is doing to glaciers and rivers, alpine flora and fauna as well as mountain communities and people. The report is co-edited by UBC Okanagan’s Lael Parrott, a professor of sustainability in the earth, environmental and geographic sciences department and ACC vice-president for access and environment.
Gripped
January 14, 2020
How Banff’s visitor safety and search and rescue got started
Visitor Safety focuses on prevention of incidents, response to accidents and a lot more. It started in the 1950s after two accident in Banff National Park. “Reducing the likelihood and severity of incidents remains the primary goal of the Visitor Safety program. Good communication with visitors, implementation of new technologies and strong relationships with partner organizations help achieve this goal and promote enjoyable visitor experiences within the mountain parks.”
The Star
May 31, 2019
“We’re on the edge of a serious crisis,” warns editor of new report on Canada’s mountains
CALGARY—In trying to stop wildfires, humans have made the Rockies more vulnerable to the larger and more dangerous fires that have threatened the forests and air of Western Canada in recent years, according to a report from the Alpine Club of Canada. Editor Lael Parrott said one of the missions of the club, which was founded in 1906, is to support and communicate research. So she, along with fellow editors Zac Robinson and David Hik, decided to start the State of the Mountains report in 2018, reaching out to researchers across the country to share their work in essays in an effort to make it more accessible to the wider public.
Canadian Geographic
May 29, 2019
22 facts and figures from the Alpine Club of Canada’s 2019 State of the Mountains Report
The Alpine Club of Canada covers everything from wildfires to watermelon snow in its recently published annual report on Canada's alpine environments. The 44-page report makes for compelling reading, often using climate change as a lens through which to examine subjects such as watermelon snow, wildfires, sustainable mountain tourism and the large mammals that live in alpine environments.
Folio
May 24, 2019
More intense wildfires are here to stay and we need to adapt: report
Update on state of Canada’s mountain regions looks at human scale of ecological disaster wrought by changing climate.
The Guardian
October, 2018
“We've never seen this”: massive Canadian glaciers shrinking rapidly
Scientists in Canada have warned that massive glaciers in the Yukon territory are shrinking even faster than would be expected from a warming climate – and bringing dramatic changes to the region.After a string of recent reports chronicling the demise of the ice fields, researchers hope that greater awareness will help the public better understand the rapid pace of climate change.
CBC Canada
October 28, 2018
Dry lakes and dust storms: Dramatic changes to Yukon glaciers are warning for planet, researchers say
Gwenn Flowers, a glaciologist, trudges back and forth across a vast glacier in southwest Yukon, pulling a radar device mounted on skis behind her. "We as Canadians are stewards of about a third of the world's mountain glaciers and ice caps, so this is our responsibility," Flowers says. The dramatic changes to the glaciers in the Yukon are an early warning of what climate change could mean for the rest of the planet, researchers say. And Flowers sees lots of reason for concern reflected in the state of the ice.
Pique Newsmagazine
June 13, 2018
Temperature Rising
Ever wonder how climate change is changing B.C. and Alberta's vast mountain ranges? A new report from The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) aims to shed some light on that question by highlighting the research of academics whose work lies at the intersection of climate change and mountain life.
Canadian Geographic
June 1, 2018
Climate change is transforming Canada’s mountains
Glacial retreat, shorter ski seasons and the decline of wild sheep populations: these are just a few ways in which alpine ecosystems and their watersheds are being transformed. And scientists are looking to the mountains as early warning systems precisely because they respond so rapidly — and intensely — to climatic and environmental shifts.
CBC Edmonton
June 1, 2018
New Alberta-produced report details Canada's 'State of the Mountains'
The report, released by the Alpine Club of Canada, consists of 12 chapters on a variety of mountain-related subjects from across the country, everything from avalanches to Canada's melting glaciers.
"There's a concern that mountain glaciers — in the Rockies, for example — will largely have disappeared by the end of this century," Hik said. "That has all sorts of potential impacts on the rivers that flow out of the mountains, including the North Saskatchewan here in Edmonton."
Folio
May 28, 2018
Mountains signalling disappearance of glacier-fed rivers: report
“State of the Mountains” report lays out how climate change is transforming alpine regions in Canada’s northwest. 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 University of British Columbia: UBC Okanagan News
May 28, 2018
Mountains Matter
University experts comment on how climate change is transforming alpine environments. Mountains are bellwethers of climate shifts according to new reporting led by UBC researchers, who suggest these terrains are experiencing a variety of rapid and worrying changes.