According to Glaciologist Dr. Brian Menounos, Professor in UNBC’s Geography program (GEES), “When we think about the end of this century, by and large, most of the ice in the Fraser basin will be gone.” He’s recently published research in the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE) alongside peers that found glaciers lost between 2 to 39% of their ice regionally, and about 5% globally between 2000 and 2023.
The gathering of this data involved in-person measurements, and space-born observation methods. It revealed an overall net loss with our local glacial melt rate being relatively quick compared to other areas of the planet.
Unfortunately, the research does not paint a pretty picture. While we’re familiar with fires and floods, landslides are something our region has not dealt with on a wide scale, and their likelihood increases as the landscape changes. The project offers its data to create predictive models to forecast future consequences we can prepare for.
Photo Credit - UNBC - Dr. Brian Menounos