It is not only a worldview to consider that development is unsustainable when it attempts to control Nature rather than respecting it. For those who don’t believe in scientific knowledge and systematic observations, time will prove them wrong, and the cost for all of us will be higher. Isn’t it increasingly difficult to ignore the…Continue Reading Significant hydrological events of 2024 in Yukon – welcoming Water’s interim compassion

Scientists are often tempted to classify their observations and conclusions into defined, ideally exclusive (no overlapping) categories. This structured approach of summarizing sciences facilitates knowledge transfer, supports project planning, and guides future research. For instance, over decades of observations and analyses, biologists have defined families of species, characterized their habitats, and identified their ecological roles….Continue Reading Classification of Canadian Watercourses for Multiple Scientific and Engineering Purposes

Figure 1. North Klondike River under hydrostatic pressure in the Tombstone Park, Yukon, in April 2024. People are right to assume that ice generally floats. H2O is among the few solids that are buoyant in their own liquid form. This can easily be verified by looking at an ice cube floating in a glass of…Continue Reading Subarctic streams under pressure… literally

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving fast, and this is overwhelming to most people, regardless of their age and status. In recent months, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a text-generating program, has initiated a technological revolution at multiple levels in our society, with largely uncertain consequences. It was not born with knowledge or a comprehension of reality; it essentially…Continue Reading Testing AI with hydrology questions

Several parts of Canada were affected by extreme dry conditions in 2023, from Nova Scotia to Northwest Territories, including many areas of Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia. This resulted in the worst wildfire season in the history of the country. Yukoners were relatively fortunate during most of the summer, but Mayo and Old Crow had…Continue Reading Significant hydrological events of 2023 in Yukon – smaller scale extremes

Most people use maps on a regular basis for a variety of purposes. Those of us interested in river systems typically rely on this aerial, two-dimensional perspective in a professional or recreational context. While maps represent extremely useful tools to locate streams, lakes and glaciers, they lack information about the third dimension: elevation. Hydrodynamic models…Continue Reading An alternative perspective on river systems of Yukon

The spring of 2023 has not been gentle on properties and infrastructure located in the Tr’ondëk (Klondike River) floodplain. Severe ice jams caused significant damage between May 7 and May 14. This was followed by a record (since 1970) high flow late on May 24. Factors that led to severe ice jamming at Henderson Corner,…Continue Reading Tr’ondëk (Klondike River) floods: Are we done yet?

There is a belief across the North that a delayed spring leads to severe ice jams and spring flooding. Afterall, the spring of 2013, one of the coldest in recent history, was followed by severe ice jams in several Yukon communities. It is true that temperatures cannot remain below average forever, and what people fear…Continue Reading What a delayed spring means for river ice breakup

The Climate Change Research – Hydrology group visited several monitoring sites located along the Dempster Highway and Silver Trail in February. The research project, supported by Transport Canada (Government of Canada) and the Department of Highways and Public Works (Government of Yukon), started in the fall of 2022 with the deployment of remote instruments at…Continue Reading Little ice, big consequences: research on icing along highways of Yukon

Each time a new climate record is broken, climate researchers are left wondering “was this because of our uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gasses?”  We rarely know for sure.  While a single extreme may be consistent with what was anticipated, specific “attribution” studies are required to determine the contribution of anthropogenic forcing to a given extreme…Continue Reading Significant hydrological events of 2022 in Yukon – the age of extremes