Projected Climate Change and Variability and Their Impact on the Canadian Rocky Mountains - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 412

Another socio-economic acitivity in the Rocky Mountains which will
likely be signifi cantly affected directly and indirectly by climate warming
is recreation and tourism. Activities such as skiing, snowmobiling and
snowshoeing that depend directly on snow will likely be negatively
affected by less snow (Scott and Jones 2005), although if the wintertime
temperature remains below zero, snow-making machines can partially
offset the impact. Wintertime tourism in areas like Banff and Jasper are
signifi cantly at risk. However, such a negative impact might be offset, at
least partially, by increased summertime activities (such as mountaineering
and hiking) due to longer summer seasons. Recreational activities that are
indirectly affected include those that are infl uenced by landscape changes.
This has been referred to as the 'capital of nature' by Krippendorf (1984).
Such activities include hunting, fi shing and sightseeing.
As noted earlier, changes in the hydrological cycle in the mountains
have a signifi cantly important impact on people living downstream lowland
areas. In Canada, that basically covers much of the western prairie regions.
Much of this impact will be felt through changes in water availability. As
stated by Henderson and Sauchyn (2008), “Water impacts our health and
well-being, food production, infrastructure, energy production, forestry,
recreation, and communities large and small.” A signifi cant portion of water
(via melting glaciers and snow) from Rockies is channeled to the prairies
through Saskatchewan River. Large urban centres like Edmonton depend
on the quality and amount of water to sustain human activities. The river
also feeds much needed water for agricultural food production. As noted
earlier, changing climate in the Rockies will change the water supply and
quality streaming out of the mountains. Continued shrinkage of glaciers
with consequent decreases in streamfl ow will compound the increased
water shortages already observed during drought years (Akinremi et al.
1999). This situation will become more acute as water demand increases
due to rising food production and population. As we have seen with the
Cline River watershed study by Kienzle et al. (2012), the streamfl ow goes
through a seasonal variation that can be accentuated by changes in snow
and glacier melt. It was noted that increased streamfl ow and retreating
glaciers (exposing thitherto unexposed ground) can lead to an increase
in downstream fl ooding, sediment transport, increased erosion (e.g., land
slides) and change in water quality (Moore et al. 2009). It has been reported
that a dry condition can lead to increased pathogens and toxic chemicals in
water supplies (Charron et al. 2004). Flooding can also lead to an increase
in water-borne diseases. A high variation in streamfl ow can also create
small stagnant water bodies such as ponds along a river that can harbour
mosquito larvae and increased incidents of West Nile virus outbreaks.
Another mosquito-related disease like malaria cannot be reasonably ruled
out.