News: Climate Change Research

WHITEHORSE— Not everyone reads a 20-page report on climate change with the same enthusiasm they reserve for a new Harry Potter book, but some do.

Meagan Grabowski, a researcher with the Northern Climate ExChange at Yukon College, wanted to know why.

With funding from the Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Grabowski and her supervisor, Yukon College adjunct Doug Clark, spent the last year studying community uptake of climate change adaptation research in Yukon.

The pair will present their findings at an hour-long talk, beginning at the College at 10 a.m. on Friday Feb 3. The talk takes place in the North Boardroom at the Yukon Research Centre.

Grabowski’s research involved reviewing Climate Change Adaptation plans from Mayo, Whitehorse, Atlin, and a draft plan from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

University of Saskatchewan and Yukon College have been awarded a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant to make climate change research more relevant to northern indigenous communities. This research will combine the disciplines of both science and art to support community adaptation to climate change.

“This project brings together the Yukon School of Visual Arts, the Yukon Research Centre, and University of Saskatchewan’s Social Science Research Laboratory with northern communities to transform local knowledge and science into artistic interpretations of changing northern landscapes”, said Dr. Graham Strickert, Adjunct Faculty with Yukon College and Research Associate with the Global Institute for Water Security. “It is our hope that by combining science and art we will not only better engage with the community but we can creatively explore solutions to our changing climate.”

WHITEHORSE – Yukon College congratulates Prime Minister Trudeau and U.S. President Obama on their climate change agreement announced yesterday, and calls upon the Prime Minister to back it up with a commitment to fund the science needed for the Canadian and U.S. governments to make better decisions to combat climate change.

“We are happy to see the Prime Minister and President acknowledge the need to take a science-based approach to climate change and arctic development, and given how rapidly global warming is impacting the Yukon it is critical that the Government of Canada support research that is in the North, by the North and for the North,” said Dr. Karen Barnes, Yukon College President.

A new and comprehensive report documenting climate change in Yukon has been released by the Northern Climate ExChange of the Yukon Research Centre (YRC).

Yukon Climate Change Indicators and Key Findings 2015 lists climate change indicators which confirm that Yukon’s climate is warming rapidly and more change is projected.

“This report will be useful to researchers, decision makers, and the general public as it could be used to make more informed decisions on how we respond to a changing climate”, said report author and Yukon Research Centre Science Advisor John Streicker. “Climate change presents both challenges and opportunities and updating this report on a regular basis will be an invaluable tool on how we can best prepare for change.”

Permafrost researchers at the Northern Climate ExChange, of the Yukon Research Centre, have completed a study on the state of the permafrost under the North Alaska Highway. They have found that over eighty percent of the permafrost that lies beneath the highway between Burwash Landing and Beaver Creek is moderately or highly vulnerable to thaw in a changing climate. This research, conducted in partnership with Government of Yukon’s Highways and Public Works (HPW), will support highway maintenance and planning.

The Northern Climate ExChange (NCE) of the Yukon Research Centre was awarded $122,502 from Natural Resources Canada to lead a cost-benefit analysis of adaptation options for a mine access road in the Northwest Territories.  This project will help the NCE take climate change adaptation planning to a new level for industry.

NCE is working with a multi-disciplinary team from Risk Sciences International, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and Nodelcorp, to study the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter ice road.  This road provides access to three active mines in the Northwest Territories and is one of the longest and heavily used ice roads in the world.

The Northern Climate ExChange (NCE) of the Yukon Research Centre has just received $186,499 from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to conduct research on permafrost and infrastructure in Ross River, Yukon.

Permafrost thaw has damaged Ross River infrastructure and this research aims to better understand which buildings are vulnerable to permafrost and how to manage existing buildings and future construction in a changing climate.

For immediate release   |  Thursday, July 4, 2013

WHITEHORSE – The Yukon Research Centre (YRC) is leading the Yukon in climate change hazards planning. Three more Yukon communities have partnered with the YRC to study the effects of climate change on their future planning and development.

The Ross River Dena Council, the Town of Faro, the City of Dawson and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in are partnering with the Northern Climate ExChange at the Yukon Research Centre, the Yukon Geological Survey and the universities of Ottawa and Montreal, to undertake a two-year landscape hazards mapping project in their communities.

“Climate change has the potential to impact our infrastructure and our economy and with limited information on landscape hazards, we are very keen to work with the YRC and create a tool for future planning,” said the Honourable Heather Campbell, Mayor, Town of Faro.