Northern ground sinking beneath our feet
By Olivia Fernandez

OTTAWA — When Christopher Burn sets foot in Mayo every summer, he feels like he’s home. Although he lives and teaches in Ottawa, his scientific research regularly takes him to the community that’s nestled in central Yukon.

Cross-section of a mound of ice called a "pingo" in Northern Canada.

For some, scrutinizing the effects of thawing permafrost may seem dull, but Burn is certain it takes a unique individual to be a northern research scientist.

"You need to be happy to live in a remote environment for extensive lengths of time, somebody who doesn’t mind camping, doesn’t mind what they eat, where they sleep. You need to be somebody who can get on with anybody."

Burn had to do just that when he started committing to long field investigations in places like Mayo in the Yukon and most recently, the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories.

He has been working in these regions for the past twenty years, trying to determine the response of permafrost to climate change. To him, permafrost is more than just ground that remains below 0 C. It is the unyielding, precious layer underneath the surface terrain that took thousands of years to grow. A third of Canada sits on this layer which can be up to 500 m thick.

Thawing ground

Burn says thin layers have been melting in recent years because the earth’s temperature is warming. This has affected the construction of buildings and pipelines, since thawing causes slippery slopes, water pools and sinking terrain. Burn’s research tries to prove that global warming is a real phenomenon.

Throughout the year, he and his research students fly north in helicopters, armed with water jets to drill holes into permafrost. They put electrical sensors inside these holes to measure the current temperature. This is then compared with old temperature data taken 35 years ago of this same ground. The difference is calculated to see if there has been any change.

"During the last 15 years many people have disputed the idea that the climate is warming. If we found that the ground has warmed from –2 to 0 C in the past 35 years that means it’s thawing. Now people have to change their construction method to deal with an environment in which the ice in the ground is melting."

Mackenzie Gas Project

This is exactly what engineers will have to do when they begin one of the largest construction projects ever to take place in northern Canada. The Mackenzie Gas Project proposes a 1220 km natural gas pipeline system along the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories. The pipeline will carry gas along route to meet with pipelines in Northern Alberta and the United States. Burn foresees danger if construction is ill-planned.

Massive wxposed in Ekati Mine (N.W.T.) construction.

"If there is a pipeline which has a hill slope failure because of melting ground and the pipeline is carrying gas at a pressure of 180 atmospheres, which is about 100 times the pressure of a car tire, then if that pipe bursts… we have a big problem, a big explosion."

The risk of this kind of accident is high, Burn explains. The Mackenzie Delta area has faced the biggest climate change in Canada. Since 1970, it has warmed 2.5 C every year. He has seen this change right before his eyes.

"It used to be the case that the Mackenzie River would be frozen by about the 11th of October,” Burn says. “When I was in Inuvik this year, the Mackenzie River was flowing as a river."

So what's the problem?

The federal government has asked Burn to review the environmental impact statement sent out by the Mackenzie Gas Project committee. Burn was disappointed that the document made no reference to any articles on permafrost by some of the world’s authorities in the field. He argues that engineering companies buy cheaply and build haphazardly, hoping to pay for the upkeep through revenue.

"From an environmental perspective we say 'no, you build it right the first time. Don’t get involved in something that you’re going to fix up as you go along because that means there’s a much greater chance of there being accidents."

Burn is hoping engineers will listen to his advice. After all, he has been studying permafrost since he came to Canada from England in 1981. He currently holds a Northern Research Chair at the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Carleton University.

The trouble is that there are so few engineers who know about permafrost. Burn guesses there are only about forty in all of Canada who are competent enough to work in the north.

"We have this big project- the biggest project ever in Northern Canada and they’re going to hire at least 5000 people to work on it and we haven’t got anybody to do it. There’s a problem."