Scientists say a melting glacier caused a river in the Yukon Territory to change direction in a matter of weeks or months, and the change is likely to be permanent.
Melting of the Kaskawulsh Glacier in Northern Canada has caused it to retreat a mile, redirecting waters last spring and causing the Slims River to dry up and start draining into a different river than it had been before.
Scientists at the University of Washington Tacoma are blaming the “river piracy” on climate change and say they expect the reversal to be permanent. A recent El Nino weather pattern has led to some of the warmest temperatures on record and has caused melting in many northern areas.
The phenomenon of a river changing direction is new for researchers. Geologists have seen evidence of river piracy, but not for thousands or millions of years.
“Geologists have seen river piracy, but nobody to our knowledge has documented it happening in our lifetimes,” UWT geoscientist Dan Shugar said in the news release.
Scientists discovered the shift when they attempted to do fieldwork in the area last summer. Gauges also showed water levels quickly dropping between May 26 and 29.
A 2016 UW study showed a 99.5 percent probability the melting glacier is due to the effects of climate change
Twitter was more than ready to blame climate change for the event.
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