Assessing Climate Change Risk and Resilience in the Yukon
Responding quickly can be hard because of the time and expertise required to secure permits.6
In addition, addressing permafrost damage is costly: according to the Government of Yukon,
Highways and Public Works, stabilizing the Ross River school cost more than $1.6 million.
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More work is needed to create standards and guidance to ensure mine infrastructure is resilient
to climate change and to include appropriate provisions in regulatory instruments..
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHT FROM THE ASSESSMENT
Through Our Clean Future, the Government of Yukon is completing geohazard maps of all Yukon
communities and assessing geohazard risks along transportation corridors. The Government of
Yukon is also compiling a Yukon Permafrost Database, which will include geotechnical and ground
temperature data. In order to build resilience to permafrost thaw, it is important to ensure that
information to support decision-making is available to those responsible for planning, developing
and upgrading infrastructure. This information includes permafrost data and geohazard maps,
northern infrastructure standards, and guidelines for key sectors, such as mining and transpor-
tation. Building community capacity and ensuring adequate and sustained resources to plan for,
monitor and upgrade infrastructure at risk from permafrost thaw will strengthen resilience.
More research is needed to understand the magnitude, timing and extent of impacts; for example,
the impacts of permafrost thaw on ecosystem health and human health, the impacts of thawing
permafrost on groundwater, and the possible release of greenhouse gases from thawing
permafrost. Change in these systems has already been observed, but a comprehensive
understanding of how much change is still to come is lacking.
6. This includes hiring engineering firms, obtaining land-use permits and completing YESAB reviews
CHAPTER 4 PRIORITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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