[Xort]

bootlegga bootlegga:

The fact that millions of people in Canada depend on the meltwater from glaciers in the Rockies is why this is important. Even more depend on glacial meltwater in the US, Asia, Europe and any other continent where they still exist.

And the problem is exacerbated as populations grow - 100 years ago, there were probably only 1 million people on the Prairies, now it's somewhere around 8 million.

You better hope your children don't live downstream from any of these melting glaciers, because their lives may be considerably more difficult due to this.

Just out and out incorrect. Glacier melt is a tiny fraction of the water that enters the prairie water system. It's mostly melting snow, and rainfall.

[jj2424]

Xort Xort:

bootlegga bootlegga:

The fact that millions of people in Canada depend on the meltwater from glaciers in the Rockies is why this is important. Even more depend on glacial meltwater in the US, Asia, Europe and any other continent where they still exist.

And the problem is exacerbated as populations grow - 100 years ago, there were probably only 1 million people on the Prairies, now it's somewhere around 8 million.

You better hope your children don't live downstream from any of these melting glaciers, because their lives may be considerably more difficult due to this.

Just out and out incorrect. Glacier melt is a tiny fraction of the water that enters the prairie water system. It's mostly melting snow, and rainfall.

Hey it's Bootlegga..it's bullshit. Just regurgitated the BS.

If we relied on glacier melt water cities in Alberta would run dry pretty damn quick.

2.5% of the water in the Bow is from glacial melt when it runs through Calgary.

[Jabberwalker]

So, do you rely on all of that Palliser Triangle rainfall or on ground water that is full of hydrocarbons?

[jj2424]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

So, do you rely on all of that Palliser Triangle rainfall or on ground water that is full of hydrocarbons?

Calgary doesn't rely on any groundwater .

[Jabberwalker]

There you go. So it's melt water or rainwater ... except that you live in one of the driest places in Canada.

[jj2424]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

There you go. So it's melt water or rainwater ... except that you live in one of the driest places in Canada.

dry It hasn't stopped raining for the last 10 years.

Snowpack doesn't even start to melt till May, Monsoon June follows .

July thunderstorms are next.

[Jabberwalker]

You have just about the lowest Canadian precip. rates there in Southern Alberta.

http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/ca ... recip.html

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/C ... verage.php

Also, you are on the Eastern slope of the Continental Divide so all of that wet that falls on the West Coast (west of the dry, dry interior in the mountains) flows in the other direction.

It has to be melt water from the mountains. 2.5%? That sounds like it's off by a factor of about 10,

[jj2424]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

You have just about the lowest Canadian precip. rates there in Southern Alberta.

http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/ca ... recip.html

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/C ... verage.php

Also, you are on the Eastern slope of the Continental Divide so all of that wet that falls on the West Coast (west of the dry, dry interior in the mountains) flows in the other direction.

It has to be melt water from the mountains. 2.5%? That sounds like it's off by a factor of about 10,

Your numbers are old. Just for fun check what the actual rainfall was in June for the city of Calgary for the last 10 years. Every May the CoC opens the gates on the Glenmore Dam to drop the water level in advance of the melt water which will hit at the same time as the rain. Check this out..

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/a ... -1.2625794

A diversion tunnel to move the water past the city and downstream.

[herbie]

I like the tourists walking on it excuse. Billions of tons of snow is disappearing because it sticks to the bottom of their shoes.
Goes with quoting a percentage of water that's from glacial melt and then denying the glaciers are melting in the same sentence.

[jj2424]

herbie herbie:

I like the tourists walking on it excuse. Billions of tons of snow is disappearing because it sticks to the bottom of their shoes.
Goes with quoting a percentage of water that's from glacial melt and then denying the glaciers are melting in the same sentence.

Are you saying snow and ice aren't supposed to melt in the spring and summer?

“At the glaciers, the rivers are gushing, they are a huge source of water,” Marshall says, “But by the time you get downstream to Calgary or Edmonton, there is not that much glacier water in the rivers. In the Bow, the average for the year is only 2 or 3 per cent.” The other 97 per cent of the water in the Bow comes from rain and snow, much of it routed through the groundwater system.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/201 ... -bow-river

[Jabberwalker]

You had better hope that it's true or Calgary will blow away like dust when the alpine glaciers are gone in a few decades.

[bootlegga]

Xort Xort:

bootlegga bootlegga:

The fact that millions of people in Canada depend on the meltwater from glaciers in the Rockies is why this is important. Even more depend on glacial meltwater in the US, Asia, Europe and any other continent where they still exist.

And the problem is exacerbated as populations grow - 100 years ago, there were probably only 1 million people on the Prairies, now it's somewhere around 8 million.

You better hope your children don't live downstream from any of these melting glaciers, because their lives may be considerably more difficult due to this.

Just out and out incorrect. Glacier melt is a tiny fraction of the water that enters the prairie water system. It's mostly melting snow, and rainfall.

Is it the most important source of water now? No, but then I didn't say that, did I? I talked about future generations....you know after the glaciers are gone.

While I sincerely doubt the Athabasca glacier will disappear in my lifetime, but my daughter's? I'm not sure, but it is certainly possible if they live to the average life expectancy of women in Canada (81 at the moment IIRC).

If you doubt that the glaciers are disappearing, scan some images of Glacier National Park across the border in Montana. Many of them show massive drops in size over the past 50 or 60 years.

What a lot of people don't know (or realize) is that the Athabasca glacier mentioned here is at the hydrographic apex of North America, meaning its meltwaters flow to three different oceans (Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic - via Hudson's Bay).

Glacier meltwater is very important in dry years (drought is not an uncommon event on the Prairies) and will become increasingly important in the future as industry and agriculture (two rather large sectors of the Alberta economy) increase their usage of of surface water for oilsands and food production.

Glacial meltwater is also important for hydroelectric production and even affects several species of freshwater fish, which need cold water to survive and reproduce.

Further, if global warming gets worse, then Alberta is projected to get less snowfall, which means less melting snow.

So yeah, glacial meltwater is very important to us Prairie dwellers.