Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan recently announced that they had solved the problem of numerically modelling snow distribution over large, topographically complex alpine areas, using a model called the Canadian Hydrological Model (CHM). Why is this important? Snowpack is critical for our spring water supplies, and plays a role in spring flooding. If we can accurately measure how much snow is on the ground just before the melt season begins, we can determine how…

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Daylight savings time has come and gone, and this weekend is the Spring Equinox (Saturday March 20th). I’ve been tidying up the garden and all sorts of things are sprouting: pulsatilla, irises, crocosmia, monarda, and daffodils. The garlic I planted last fall has all sprouted, and the cover crop in the raised vegetable garden beds is ready to be turned over. I’ve seen the first hummingbirds of spring, while the frogs in the marsh shout…

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A recently published paper suggests that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) (also called the Gulf Stream System) is slowing down. What is the AMOC? It’s a current that brings warm waters up to the North Atlantic from the Gulf Stream, then sinks and heads south as the water gets colder, saltier, and denser. Like a conveyor belt, it pulls warm water north as it sinks, bringing mild winters to places like the UK and…

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This past weekend I read Suleika Jaouad’s book Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted. It follows Jaouad on her four-year journey through leukemia and a bone marrow transfusion in her early 20s. As part of her illness journey, she wrote a column for The New York Times about being young and having cancer, and how clinicians could have dealt with her illness in a way that better addressed her demographic. For example,…

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Last week during the cold spell we had two feet of snow in the yard. I went out with the dogs on Sunday morning and saw lots of worms on top of the snow – very thin, tan/mustard-coloured, and mostly coiled up. They were everywhere in our big yard – mainly on the paths we’d walked through the snow, but also on the undisturbed snow surface. I’d heard of ice worms, which live on glaciers,…

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This week Texas has seen rolling power outages, some for as long as 10 hours, as unseasonably cold weather blankets the state and demand for power for heating surges. Here on the West Coast, we’ve had below zero temperatures and over 45 cm of snow, while the cold weather has hammered the Prairie provinces with temperatures in the -40⁰C range. A strong cold front has dropped down the centre of North America, reaching as far…

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This week Texas has seen rolling power outages, some for as long as 10 hours, as unseasonably cold weather blankets the state and demand for power for heating surges. Here on the West Coast, we’ve had below zero temperatures and over 45 cm of snow, while the cold weather has hammered the Prairie provinces with temperatures in the -40⁰C range. A strong cold front has dropped down the centre of North America, reaching as far…

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Tomorrow is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and in advance of it my husband and I watched “Picture a Scientist,” a documentary directed by Sharon Shattuck and Ian Cheney, that outlines the sexism faced by women in science. It was recommended to me by a friend and fellow woman in science who works for the government, and who likely has her own stories to tell about harassment. The movie features Dr.…

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Since 2020, the federal government has been soliciting input from Canadians about a new Canada Water Agency (CWA). The goal is to connect all departments and programs across governments (federal, provincial, municipal, Indigenous) that deal with freshwater, and to also connect with academics and organizations focused on Canadian freshwater. The government has released a white paper that you can read here, which lays out the groundwork for the agency, and the departments and organizations who…

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The Colorado River Basin has experienced high drought levels for the past 20 years. This year’s seasonal drought monitor is no exception – it shows the Colorado Basin as being under an “exceptional” drought, which affects Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. US Drought Monitor, 24 January 2021. See more here. The Colorado Basin is drying significantly, leading to dry alpine tundra and high-elevation forests, and causing more, bigger wildfires. Reservoirs are sinking to…

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