Western Canadian freshwater availability: current and future vulnerabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-545
Author(s):  
Barrie Bonsal ◽  
Rajesh R. Shrestha ◽  
Yonas Dibike ◽  
Daniel L. Peters ◽  
Christopher Spence ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
North West ◽  
Western Cordillera ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
High Emission ◽  
High Emission Scenario ◽  
Freshwater Availability

The western cordillera supplies freshwater across much of western Canada mainly through meltwater from snow and ice. This “alpine water tower” has been, and is projected to be, associated with changes in the seasonality and amount of freshwater availability, which are critical in supporting the societal and environmental flow needs of the region. This study incorporates existing information to synthesize and evaluate current and future freshwater supplies and demands across major north-, west-, and east-flowing sub-basins of the Canadian western cordillera. The assessment of supply indicators reveals several historical changes that are projected to continue, and be exacerbated, particularly by the end of this century and under a high emission scenario. The greatest and most widespread impact is the seasonality of streamflow characterized by earlier spring freshets, increased winter, and decreased summer flow. Future winter and spring warming over all basins will result in decreases in end of season snow and glacier mass balance with greatest declines in more southern regions. In many areas, there will be a greater likelihood of summer freshwater shortages. All sub-basins have environmental and economic freshwater demands and pressures, especially in more southern watersheds where population and infrastructure are more prevalent and industrial, agricultural, and water energy needs are higher. Concerns regarding the continued ability to maintain suitable aquatic habitats and adequate water quality are issues across all regions. These water supply changes along with continued and increasing demands will combine to create a variety of freshwater vulnerabilities across all regions of western Canada. Southern basins including the South Saskatchewan and Okanagan are likely to experience the greatest vulnerabilities due to future summer freshwater supply shortages and increasing economic demands. In more northern areas, vulnerabilities primarily relate to how the rapidly changing landscape (mainly associated with permafrost thaw) impacts freshwater quantity and quality. These vulnerabilities will require various adaptation measures in response to alterations in the timing and amount of future freshwater supplies and demands.

scholarly journals Transport of Canadian forest fire smoke over the UK as observed by lidar

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Vaughan ◽  
Adam P. Draude ◽  
Hugo M. A. Ricketts ◽  
David M. Schultz ◽  
Mariana Adam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
North West ◽  
Fire Smoke ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Lidar Observations ◽  
Aerosol Properties

Abstract. Layers of aerosol at heights between 2 and 11 km were observed with Raman lidars in the UK between 23 and 31 May 2016. A network of such lidars, supported by ceilometer observations, is used to map the extent of the aerosol and its optical properties. Spaceborne lidar profiles show that the aerosol originated from forest fires over Western Canada around 17 May, and indeed the aerosol properties – weak depolarisation and a lidar ratio at 355 nm in the range 35–65 sr – were consistent with long-range transport of forest fire smoke. The event was unusual in its persistence – the smoke plume was drawn into an atmospheric block that kept it above North-west Europe for nine days. Lidar observations show how the smoke layers became optically thinner during this period, but the lidar ratio and aerosol depolarisation showed little change.

scholarly journals Loss of connectivity among island-dwelling Peary caribou following sea ice decline

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 20160235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Jenkins ◽  
Nicolas Lecomte ◽  
James A. Schaefer ◽  
Steffen M. Olsen ◽  
Didier Swingedouw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Population Connectivity ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Landscape Resistance ◽  
Population Mixing ◽  
Sea Ice Decline ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
High Emission ◽  
High Emission Scenario

Global warming threatens to reduce population connectivity for terrestrial wildlife through significant and rapid changes to sea ice. Using genetic fingerprinting, we contrasted extant connectivity in island-dwelling Peary caribou in northern Canada with continental-migratory caribou. We next examined if sea-ice contractions in the last decades modulated population connectivity and explored the possible impact of future climate change on long-term connectivity among island caribou. We found a strong correlation between genetic and geodesic distances for both continental and Peary caribou, even after accounting for the possible effect of sea surface. Sea ice has thus been an effective corridor for Peary caribou, promoting inter-island connectivity and population mixing. Using a time series of remote sensing sea-ice data, we show that landscape resistance in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has increased by approximately 15% since 1979 and may further increase by 20–77% by 2086 under a high-emission scenario (RCP8.5). Under the persistent increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, reduced connectivity may isolate island-dwelling caribou with potentially significant consequences for population viability.

scholarly journals Taxonomic composition of weed vegetation in the southern and middle Urals and zonal features of its control in maize crops

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 ◽  
pp. 03024
Author(s):  
A.E. Panfilov ◽  
N.I. Kazakova ◽  
N.N. Zezin ◽  
E.L. Tikhanskaya ◽  
P.Yu. Ovchinnikov
Keyword(s):  
Steppe Zone ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Middle Urals ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
Temperate Soil ◽  
Segetal Flora

As a result of expeditionary-route studies, the impoverishment of the composition of the segetal flora in maize crops was established when moving from the North-West to the South-East of the Ural region: from 37 species in the forest-meadow and mountain-forest zones to 10 in the steppe zone. Zonal features of the composition of weed communities associated with the hydrothermal gradient consist in the mutual substitution of annual monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species with a stable contribution of perennial dicotyledons, as well as the replacement of mesophytic weeds with xerophytic species of the same families. A comparison of cross-spectrum herbicides effectiveness in the forest-steppe and forest-meadow zones showed the advantages of a post-emergent preparation with soil effect of Meister Power. In temperate soil fertility in the Southern area of the region, it is economically feasible to use post-emergent herbicides without soil effect, in Northern areas with stable moisture – soil ones.

scholarly journals Bias Corrections of Precipitation Measurements across Experimental Sites in Different Ecoclimatic Regions of Western Canada

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xicai Pan ◽  
Daqing Yang ◽  
Yanping Li ◽  
Alan Barr ◽  
Warren Helgason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regional Climate ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Seasonal Precipitation ◽  
Balance Assessment ◽  
Precipitation Regime ◽  
Western Cordillera ◽  
Operational Networks ◽  
Precipitation Gauge ◽  
Bias Corrections

Abstract. This study assesses a filtering procedure on accumulating precipitation gauge measurements, and quantifies the effects of bias corrections for wind-induced undercatch across four ecoclimatic regions in western Canada, including the permafrost regions of the Sub-arctic, the Western Cordillera, the Boreal Forest, and the Prairies. The bias corrections increased monthly precipitation by up to 163 % at windy sites with short vegetation, and sometimes modified the seasonal precipitation regime, whereas the increases were less than 13 % at sites shielded by forest. On a yearly basis, the increase of total precipitation ranged from 8 to 20 mm (3–4 %) at sites shielded by vegetation, and 60 to 384 mm (about 15–34 %) at open sites. In addition, the bias corrections altered the seasonal precipitation patterns at some windy sites with high snow percentage (> 50 %). This study highlights the need and importance of precipitation bias corrections at both research sites and operational networks for water balance assessment and the validation of global/regional climate/hydrology models.

scholarly journals The combustion of biomass - the impact of its types and combustion technologies on the emission of nitrogen oxide

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milica Mladenovic ◽  
Dragoljub Dakic ◽  
Stevan Nemoda ◽  
Milijana Paprika ◽  
Mirko Komatina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Nox Reduction ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Biomass Composition ◽  
Biomass Combustion ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
High Emission ◽  
Soybean Straw ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Combustion Regimes

Harmonization of environmental protection and the growing energy needs of modern society promote the biomass application as a replacement for fossil fuels and a viable option to mitigate the green house gas emissions. For domestic conditions this is particularly important as more than 60% of renewables belongs to biomass. Beside numerous benefits of using biomass for energy purposes, there are certain drawbacks, one of which is a possible high emission of NOx during the combustion of these fuels. The paper presents the results of the experiments with multiple biomass types (soybean straw, cornstalk, grain biomass, sunflower oil, glycerin and paper sludge), using different combustion technologies (fluidized bed and cigarette combustion), with emphasis on the emission of NOx in the exhaust gas. A presentation of the experimental installations is given, as well as an evaluation of the effects of the fuel composition, combustion regimes and technology on the NOx emissions. As the biomass combustion took place at temperatures low enough that thermal and prompt NOx can be neglected, the conclusion is the emissions of nitrogen oxides primarily depend on the biomass composition- it is increasing with the increase of the nitrogen content, and decreases with the increase of the char content which provides catalytic surface for NOx reduction by CO.

“Eskimo” Immigrants and Colonial Soldiers: Icelandic Immigrants and the North-West Resistance, 1885

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (s1) ◽  
pp. s309-s338
Author(s):  
Laurie K. Bertram
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
The West ◽  
New Developments ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Urban Working

How did marginalized and racialized ethnic immigrants transform themselves into active, armed colonial agents in nineteenth-century Western Canada? Approximately twenty Icelanders enlisted to fight Louis Riel’s forces during the North-West Resistance in 1885, just ten years following the arrival of Icelandic immigrants in present-day Manitoba. Forty more reportedly enlisted in an Icelandic-Canadian battalion to enforce the government’s victory in the fall. This public, armed stance of a group of Icelanders against Indigenous forces in 1885 is somewhat unexpected, since most Icelanders were relatively recent arrivals in the West and, in Winnipeg, members of the largely unskilled urban working class. Moreover, they were widely rumoured among Winnipeggers to be from a “blubber-eating race” and of “Eskimo” extraction; community accounts testify to the discrimination numerous early Icelanders faced in the city. These factors initially make Icelanders unexpected colonialists, particularly since nineteenth-century ethnic immigration and colonial suppression so often appear as separate processes in Canadian historiography. Indeed, this scholarship is characterized by an enduring belief that Western Canadian colonialism was a distinctly Anglo sin. Ethnic immigrants often appear in scholarly and popular histories as sharing a history of marginalization with Indigenous people that prevented migrants from taking part in colonial displacement. Proceeding from the neglected history of Icelandic enlistment in 1885 and new developments in Icelandic historiography, this article argues that rather than negating ethnic participation in Indigenous suppression, ethnic marginality and the class tensions it created could actually fuel participation in colonial campaigns, which promised immigrants upward mobility, access to state support, and land.

The Sunni-Shia Conflict in Jhang (Pakistan)

Pakistan ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Mariam Abou Zahab
Keyword(s):  
Macro Level ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
North West Frontier Province ◽  
Sectarian Conflict ◽  
External Causes

This chapter highlights the violent clashes that mostly happened during Muharram when the Shias perform mourning rituals or azadari in public and take out huge processions. Since the mid-1980s, parties and violent groups, often sponsored by Islamic states, have emerged with a narrow sectarian agenda. The chapter discusses how the level and intensity of violence has tremendously increased in Afganistan and Kashmir due to the availability of weapons and easy access to training facilities. Sunnis and Shias have killed each other in the name of religion in the Punjab, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), in Karachi, and in the Northern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan. This chapter analyzes the internal and external causes of the emergence of the sectarian conflict in Pakistan at the macro level.

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