THE COLUMBIA ICEFIELD
The Columbia Icefield sits astride the Continental Divide along the borders of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Twelve of the highest mountains in the Canadian Rockies encircle the Icefield, massive enduring sentinels, like Guardians protecting the Icefield and the six major glaciers it feeds.
“Probably 80 per cent of the mountain glaciers in Alberta and British Columbia will disappear in the next 50 years” – David Hik, Professor of Terrestrial Ecology at Simon Fraser University.
This daunting prediction has inspired us to put the Columbia Icefield in the limelight with the Guardians of the Ice project.
“Probably 80 per cent of the mountain glaciers in Alberta and British Columbia will disappear in the next 50 years” – David Hik, Professor of Terrestrial Ecology at Simon Fraser University.
This daunting prediction has inspired us to put the Columbia Icefield in the limelight with the Guardians of the Ice project.
WHAT COULD BE LOST: A GLOBAL STORY
“Mountains give an important glimpse into the future and can show us what’s coming down the line.” – Zac Robinson, University of Alberta, Co- Chair, Thinking Mountains Interdisciplinary Summit.
A study, led by Garry Clarke of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, on the projected deglaciation of Western Canadian mountain glaciers, was published online in Nature Geoscience in April 2015. The study found that warming temperatures are responsible for glacier ice shrinkage at the Columbia Icefield. The results of the study indicate that by 2100 the volume of glacier ice will shrink by 70% ±10% relative to 2005.
See the 80-year projection of Icefield retreat
Millions of people visit the Icefield each year. It is extraordinarily important for the northern hemisphere’s water supply, draining to three oceans: the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic. As “the mother of rivers,” the Icefield feeds the river systems of the North Saskatchewan, Columbia, Athabasca and Fraser.
Indeed, the role of the Icefield in our water supply is a central theme of ongoing glaciological research. The multi-disciplinary approach of one of our Principals, Dr. Alison Criscitiello and her collaborators, will “… provide a holistic ‘glacier-to-table’ understanding of how freshwater quality and services are changing, from their western Rocky Mountains headwaters downstream to end-users.”
Bob Sandford, Chair in Water and Climate Security at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
Check out this 7 minute video clip of Bob Sandford’s moving and inspiring opening remarks. He has a poetic and positive way of expressing his broad and deep understanding of the regional and worldwide significance of climate change impacts on the Columbia Icefield and vital water supplies.
Bob Sandford, Chair in Water and Climate Security at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
Check out this 7 minute video clip of Bob Sandford’s moving and inspiring opening remarks. He has a poetic and positive way of expressing his broad and deep understanding of the regional and worldwide significance of climate change impacts on the Columbia Icefield and vital water supplies.
WHAT COULD BE LOST: A GLOBAL STORY
“Mountains give an important glimpse into the future and can show us what’s coming down the line.” – Zac Robinson, University of Alberta, Co- Chair, Thinking Mountains Interdisciplinary Summit.
A study, led by Garry Clarke of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, on the projected deglaciation of Western Canadian mountain glaciers, was published online in Nature Geoscience in April 2015. The study found that warming temperatures are responsible for glacier ice shrinkage at the Columbia Icefield. The results of the study indicate that by 2100 the volume of glacier ice will shrink by 70% ±10% relative to 2005.
See the 80-year projection of Icefield retreat
Millions of people visit the Icefield each year. It is extraordinarily important for the northern hemisphere’s water supply, draining to three oceans: the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic. As “the mother of rivers,” the Icefield feeds the river systems of the North Saskatchewan, Columbia, Athabasca and Fraser.
Indeed, the role of the Icefield in our water supply is a central theme of ongoing glaciological research. The multi-disciplinary approach of one of our Principals, Dr. Alison Criscitiello and her collaborators, will “… provide a holistic ‘glacier-to-table’ understanding of how freshwater quality and services are changing, from their western Rocky Mountains headwaters downstream to end-users.”
Bob Sandford, Chair in Water and Climate Security at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
Check out this 7 minute video clip of Bob Sandford’s moving and inspiring opening remarks. He has a poetic and positive way of expressing his broad and deep understanding of the regional and worldwide significance of climate change impacts on the Columbia Icefield and vital water supplies.
OUR MISSION
To marry art and science in film, photography and text to illuminate the significance of what is being lost and the infinite possibilities to be realized in grappling with this urgent global climate crisis.
To mobilize a broad social movement around the retreat of the Columbia Icefield breaking the logjam of apathy and complacency towards the climate crisis. We can accomplish this by becoming committed climate activists in a community of individual action, community collaboration and policy change.
OUR MISSION
To marry art and science in film, photography and text to illuminate the significance of what is being lost and the infinite possibilities to be realized in grappling with this urgent global climate crisis.
To mobilize a broad social movement around the retreat of the Columbia Icefield breaking the logjam of apathy and complacency towards the climate crisis. We can accomplish this by becoming committed climate activists in a community of individual action, community collaboration and policy change.
OUR MISSION
To marry art and science in film, photography and text to illuminate the significance of what is being lost and the infinite possibilities to be realized in grappling with this urgent global climate crisis.
To mobilize a broad social movement around the retreat of the Columbia Icefield breaking the logjam of apathy and complacency towards the climate crisis. We can accomplish this by becoming committed climate activists in a community of individual action, community collaboration and policy change.
is one of Canada’s leading alpine climbers, with experience in many of the world’s Great Ranges. Based in Canada’s mountains, he’s repeated and established some of the most remote and esthetic climbs on the Columbia Icefield. He has pushed the limits above glaciers on North America’s highest mountains. And established a route on a Himalayan peak, K6 West at a grade of WI5 M6 over 1,800 metres with Raphael Slawinski. The ascent earned them both the prestigious climbing award known as the Piolets d’Or.
is an ice-core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer. National Geographic Explorer, Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. In addition to her academic work, she is a co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada and an avid adventurer and mountain climber.