Earth’s high mountain areas are so significant in terms of climate change impacts that last fall the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

Around the world, high mountain areas are places that hold much of Earth’s cryosphere, as the frozen parts of the planet are known, including snow, glaciers, permafrost and lake ice and river ice.

These high mountain areas are also where widespread changes are taking place in response to the planet’s warming temperatures. Declining snowpacks and shifts in the amount and timing of snowmelt runoff are just some of the changes happening in these areas.

The effects aren’t limited to the mountains, but have impacts on physical, biological and human systems in the lowlands downstream.

That includes the Canadian Rockies, foothills and prairies.

Read the Canmore Rocky Mountain Article full here.

From the Winnipeg Sun:

A newly-approved transmission line from Manitoba to Sask. could help the latter wean itself off coal and develop more renewable energy infrastructure.

View the full article here

From The Globe and Mail:

The federal government has made climate change a priority by promising to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, put a price on pollution, plant two billion trees and help Canadians manage the risk of natural disasters such as flooding.

But interviews with more than a dozen researchers, and current and former government officials, plus scores of government records, point to the same conclusion: To keep its green promises, the federal government needs better numbers…

View the full article here

Image courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization

The following was released by the World Meteorological Organization:

Snow and ice melt: short-term hazards, long-term water stress

Geneva 31 October 2019 (WMO) – A High Mountain Summit has issued a Call for Action in the face of rapid melting of the Earth’s frozen peaks and the consequences for food, water and human security, as well as for ecosystems, the environment and economies.

The three-day summit, convened by the World Meteorological Organization and a wide range of partners, identified priority actions to support more sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation both in high-mountain areas and downstream.

“The high mountain regions are the home of the cryosphere, and source of global freshwater that are transmitted by rivers to much of the world. Preservation of ecosystem function and services from these regions is essential to global water, food and energy security,” says the Call for Action.

“Climate change and development are creating an unprecedented crisis in our high mountain earth system that threatens the sustainability of the planet.  There is great urgency to take global action now to build capacity, invest in infrastructure and make mountain and downstream communities safer and more sustainable.  This action must be informed by science, local knowledge and based on transdisciplinary approaches to integrated observations and predictions,” it says.

“We, the participants at the WMO High Mountain Summit 2019, hereby commit to the goal that people who live in mountains and downstream should have open access to hydrological, cryospheric, meteorological, and climate information services to help them adapt to and manage the threats imposed by escalating climate change,” says the Call to Action.

It commits itself to a new Integrated High Mountain Observation and Prediction Initiative as one of the tools to address the challenges of climate change, melting snow and ice and water-related hazards and stress.

It urges that sustainable mountain development and mountain ecosystem conservation should be an integral part of international development policy, and that there should be strengthened transboundary cooperation in open data sharing, forecasting and prediction, policy development and knowledge generation and sharing.

“It is very clear that the choices we make and urgent action we take now, are critical for safeguarding our high mountain regions. This Summit has succeeded in connecting science, policy and practice to define the roadmap for climate action,” said Mountain Research Initiative Executive Director Carolina Adler, who was co-chair of the summit. “We need to ensure that the science responds to people’s needs, supporting the information services they rely on to address risks.”

Water towers of the world

Mountain regions cover about a quarter of the Earth’s land surface and are home to around 1.1 billion people. They are known as the “water towers of the world” because river basins with headwaters in the mountains supply freshwater to over half of humanity, including in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush and Tibetan Plateau region, known as the Third Pole.

Presentations from around the globe highlighted that glacier and snow melt translates into a short-term increase in hazards like landslides and floods and a long-term threat to the security of water supplies for billions of people.

“We need to identify solutions,” said conference co-chair John Pomeroy, Canada Research Chair in Water Resources & Climate Change; Director, Centre for Hydrology of University of Saskatchewan, and Director, Global Water Futures Initiative.

“We can choose a future of action and solutions based on science and knowledge which support cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation and mitigation. We can use water – and thus mountains – as a source of peace. Or we can have a dismal future. Time is running out,” he said.

Swiss Federal Councillor and Interior Minister Alain Berset described how Swiss glaciers have lost 10% of their volume in the past 5 years, including 2 % in the last year. 500 smaller glaciers have disappeared and by the end of the century, 90% of the remaining 4000 glaciers may melt.

During the summer 2019 heatwaves, the equivalent of Switzerland’s annual national drinking water consumption melted from its glaciers in just 15 days, according to MeteoSwiss.

The summit declaration voices concern that “water security is becoming one of the greatest challenges of the world’s population, and that the uncertainties on the availability of freshwater from mountain rivers is a significant factor of risk for local and downstream ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, food production, fisheries, hydropower production, transportation, tourism, recreation, infrastructure, domestic water supply, and human health.”

Avoiding the impending crisis

The summit brought together more than 150 participants, representing meteorology, hydrology, environmental and atmospheric sciences, development agencies, research and academia, voluntary partnerships and community representatives.

Image courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization

The Call for Action is entitled: “Avoiding the Impending Crisis in Mountain Weather, Climate, Snow, Ice and Water: Pathways to a Sustainable Global Future.”

International observations show an acceleration in the retreat of 31 major glaciers in the past two decades. But lack of observations hinder reliable monitoring.

The summit noted “the scarcity of meteorological, hydrological, climate, and cryosphere observations in mountain regions, and the difficulties in accessing existing data. But it also stressed the potential of space-based observing systems to improve the situation.

It also highlights the need for early warning and risk prediction systems that reach the people as well as decision makers in mountain areas so they are able to plan more resilient communities and take early action in the anticipation of hazardous weather, climate and water events.

Integrated High Mountain Observation and Prediction Initiative

“WMO will provide leadership and guidance in the Integrated High Mountain Observation and Prediction Initiative. We need to improve observations, forecasts and data exchange in mountain ranges and headwaters around the world.  This is needed to address accelerating climate change which has increasing impacts on vulnerable populations,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Elena Manaenkova.

WMO is working towards an integrated Earth System Forecasting and Prediction System, with strong engagement from the research community.  To support this new integrated approach, WMO has reformed its constituent body structures. WMO’s newly formed Commission for Observation, Infrastructure and Information Systems will be instrumental in the new Integrated High Mountain Observation and Prediction System Initiative, according to the commission president, Michel Jean.

Participants repeatedly cited the findings of  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, which includes a dedicated chapter on high mountain areas.

The IPCC report said that current trends in cryosphere-related changes in high-mountain ecosystems are expected to continue and impacts to intensify. Snow cover, glaciers and permafrost are projected to continue to decline in almost all regions throughout the 21st century.

Sponsors of the High Mountain Summit include the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and Swiss government agencies. It is co-organized by:

Food and Agriculture Organization

Global Water Futures

International Association of Cryospheric Sciences

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

International Network for Alpine Research Catchment Hydrology

Mountain Partnership (FAO)

Mountain Research Initiative

Third Pole Environment

UNESCO International Hydrological Programme

World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery

World Bank Central Asia Water and Energy Program

Image courtesy of WMO High Mountain Summit Website

USask Professor John Pomeroy co-chaired the World Meteorological Organization “High Mountain Summit” in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The world faces increased flooding, droughts and possible conflicts due to the effects of climate change on fresh water supplies drawn from mountains but is ‘woefully unprepared’ to tackle these risks, experts said.” -Reuters

Click below to read the full article on Reuters, including words from Distinguished Professor Dr. John Pomeroy.

Read More…

Centre for Hydrology Director John Pomeroy has been awarded the Miroslaw Romanowski Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for his outstanding work in snow hydrology. You can view the full list of 2019 Medal and Award Recipients here.

ALONG THIS STRETCH OF ALASKA HIGHWAY, where it curves between the southern edge of Lhù’ààn Män lake and the rugged peaks of the southwest Yukon, the dust storms can blow so thick that drivers have been forced to pull over. Where the two-lane road crosses A´ąy Chù river, sand drifts across the pavement as if it were snow.

Continue reading →

BOW VALLEY – In the Rockies, the story of the late spring/early summer snowpack is a tale of two worlds.

In the lower elevations and the valley bottoms, the snow melted away early, while in the higher elevations it has only just begun to melt.

“There’s still lots of snow up high, but not much down low,” said snow hydrologist John Pomeroy, director of the University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Hydrology which conducts much of its research in the Rockies.

Continue reading →

Bob Haver has never seen the river running so low, and he’s been rowing on it for 45 years.

A founder of the Saskatoon Rowing Club, Haver is attuned to the rising, falling and shifting of the South Saskatchewan’s sandbars; at present, they are serious challenges for river users. Continue reading →

Canada is the only G7 country without a nationwide flood forecasting system and, according to scientists, the absence of such a system has come at a cost.

“Damages from floods and droughts have shot through the roof,” said John Pomeroy, an expert in hydrology and the Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change at the University of Saskatchewan.

According to Pomeroy, the total amount of money spent recovering from climate-related floods and wildfires in Canada prior to the year 2000 was about $1 billion.

Read more