Thawing permafrost, eroding lakeshores, a melting glacier and fears of flash floods at a national park on Baffin Island have forced the evacuation of 21 tourists and led officials to declare much of the wilderness reserve off-limits until geologists and ice experts can assess what appear to be the latest dramatic effects of climate change in Canada's Arctic.
The 19,000-square-kilometre Auyuittuq National Park on the island's northeast coast has recently experienced record-breaking warmth and substantial amounts of rain..
This week's crisis at Auyuittuq follows June flooding in the nearby community of Pangnirtung, where rain, melting ice and eroding riverbanks forced the shutdown of a key bridge linking the hamlet's two sides.
Auyuittuq's dominant feature, the Penny Ice Cap, has been shedding water for weeks and warm weather has destabilized the shoreline around Crater Lake, a popular site in the park. Officials, concerned that the lake could catastrophically drain into a nearby valley, arranged helicopter evacuation of tourists with help from the Canadian Coast Guard and the RCMP.
Erosion, flash-floods threaten national park on Baffin Island
Thawing permafrost, eroding lakeshores, a melting glacier and fears of flash floods at a national park on Baffin Island have forced the evacuation of 21 tourists.
Published: 01.08.2008 13:50
