Assessing Climate Change Risk and Resilience in the Yukon
Table 14 shows the recommended actions to increase resilience for Priority 7.
Table 14: Summary of recommended actions, Priority 7
Impact
no.
Significant Impacts, Priority 7
Recommended actions to increase resilience
27
Agriculture
Longer growing seasons and warmer tempera-
tures increase agricultural opportunities
Implement food strategies developed by Yukon
governments, First Nations and municipalities.
Energy
11
Changing water levels, conditions and flow in
rivers and lakes affect communities and
infrastructure
Mining
7
8
9
11
16
Permafrost thaw destabilizes soil conditions
Permafrost thaw alters land-forms and ecology
Permafrost thaw causes critical infrastructure
failures
Changing water levels, conditions and flow in
rivers and lakes affect communities and
infrastructure
Changes to snow and ice cover create unsafe or
unreliable conditions that reduce access
• Continue to use climate projections into
hydrological modeling and incorporate
climate-related risks into adaptation planning.
• Ensure that the companies operating in the
Yukon are considering climate change impacts
and adjusting operations to reduce risks.
•
Ensure that mining companies are adopting
building standards and guidelines that take
into account climate change hazards, such as
permafrost thaw, hydrological changes and
extreme weather events.
35
Extreme precipitation and flash flooding cause
physical and chemical instability in mine sites
Tourism
1
Wildfire smoke is transported long distances,
affecting local and regional air quality
16
Changes to snow and ice cover create unsafe or
unreliable conditions that reduce access
28
The health and safety of people on land are at risk
from variability, uncertainty and extreme weather
29
29
Flooding in communities is more frequent and
severe
CHAPTER 4 PRIORITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
•
•
Support tourism operators, their clients, and
unguided visitors and residents with better
access to key information on snowpack, weather
conditions and flows and water levels in rivers
and lakes.
Develop decision-making tools for tourism
operators, their clients, and unguided visitors
and residents to help them make quality
decisions with respect to safety in the back-
country.
• Ensure emergency response planning, for
situations like fires and floods, for example,
account for visitors.
Support tourism operators by gathering more
information on the implications of climate
change on insurance policies.
• Help offset the cost of safety equipment
required by tourism operators to safely take
clients into the backcountry.
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