US EditionPioneering research reveals Arctic matter pathways poised for major shifts amidst climate change
Warming and wetter conditions in the Canadian High Arctic threaten over 2,500 contaminated sites with year-round groundwater discharge, raising risks to freshwater ecosystems.
- McGill University researchers found warming temperatures and increased precipitation create groundwater pathways that mobilize contaminants from more than 2500 contaminated sites across the Canadian High Arctic, with groundwater discharge to rivers and lakes predicted to occur year-round.
- Model simulations show climate projections from the International Panel on Climate Change predict the active layer of permafrost will thicken and remain thawed longer, while groundwater movement accelerates thawing and deepens the active layer.
- Using SUTRA 4.0, Selsey Stribling and Jeffrey McKenzie modelled shallow groundwater flow at the BAF‑3 radar station on Brevoort Island, Nunavut, part of the North Warning System.
- The researchers warn that given the scale of contamination, fragile northern ecosystems face serious risks while drinking water sources are closely monitored, but wildlife and food chains remain a concern; BAF‑3 remediation efforts are complicated by high costs and data gaps.
- Researchers urge future climate models to separately consider lakes and rivers, call for more site-specific data to help governments plan cleanup, and Jeffrey McKenzie said, `We need to think about ways to identify sites, clean them up and know where they are.
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12 Articles
The West Australian
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Climate change will bring a surge in High Arctic groundwater discharge that will result in contaminant spread
Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military sites across the region.
Pioneering research reveals Arctic matter pathways poised for major shifts amidst climate change
A new study has shed unprecedented light on the highly variable and climate-sensitive routes that substances from Siberian rivers use to travel across the Arctic Ocean. The findings raise fresh concerns about the increasing spread of pollutants and the potential consequences for fragile polar ecosystems as climate change accelerates.
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