Global warming: Slims River dried since 2016 glacial meltwater diversion. St. Elias Mountains, Kluane NP, Yukon, Canada.

Kluane National Park and Reserve, St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Hike Sheep Creek trail (10-15 km with 500-1200 m gain or 1700-4000 ft) for spectacular views of the Slims River Valley and surrounding St. Elias Mountains, plus Kluane Lake seen from Soldier's Summit on Tachal Dahl (Sheep Mountain) Ridge. In a startling case of global warming, over 4 days in spring 2016, the Slims River suddenly disappeared, leaving windswept mud flats creating clouds of dust in the formerly clear air. With its main water supply cut off, Kluane Lake will be isolated within a few years, shrinking below its outflow into the Kluane River (which flows into the Donjek River, White River, Yukon River, and eventually the Bering Sea). Kluane Lake chemistry and fish populations are rapidly changing. For the last 300 years, abundant meltwater from the Kaskawulsh Glacier has been channeled by ice dam to drain via the 150-meter wide Slims River, north into Kluane Lake. Between 1956 and 2007, the Kaskawulsh glacier retreated by 600-700m, which most scientists attribute to anthropogenic climate change. Meltwater flooding from accelerating retreat in 2016 carved a new channel through a large ice field, diverting all flows to the Kaskawulsh River, a tributary of the Alsek, which flows into the Gulf of Alaska. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.

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Filename: 1906AKH-2903-p1-Pano.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 5778x3486 / 7.8MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Panorama PhotoBest river water
Contained in galleries: CANADA: mountain park favorites, Alaska-Canadian Highway, Global warming, climate change, CANADA: Yukon: Whitehorse, Dawson, Klondike Highway, 2019 Jun: all Alaska-Canadian Highway, 2019 Jun: Alaska-Canadian favorites, Highlights 2019

Kluane National Park and Reserve, St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Hike Sheep Creek trail (10-15 km with 500-1200 m gain or 1700-4000 ft) for spectacular views of the Slims River Valley and surrounding St. Elias Mountains, plus Kluane Lake seen from Soldier's Summit on Tachal Dahl (Sheep Mountain) Ridge. In a startling case of global warming, over 4 days in spring 2016, the Slims River suddenly disappeared, leaving windswept mud flats creating clouds of dust in the formerly clear air. With its main water supply cut off, Kluane Lake will be isolated within a few years, shrinking below its outflow into the Kluane River (which flows into the Donjek River, White River, Yukon River, and eventually the Bering Sea). Kluane Lake chemistry and fish populations are rapidly changing. For the last 300 years, abundant meltwater from the Kaskawulsh Glacier has been channeled by ice dam to drain via the 150-meter wide Slims River, north into Kluane Lake. Between 1956 and 2007, the Kaskawulsh glacier retreated by 600-700m, which most scientists attribute to anthropogenic climate change. Meltwater flooding from accelerating retreat in 2016 carved a new channel through a large ice field, diverting all flows to the Kaskawulsh River, a tributary of the Alsek, which flows into the Gulf of Alaska. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.