Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions
As Arctic and boreal regions rapidly warm, the frequency and seasonal timing of hazardous driving conditions on all-season Arctic-boreal roads are likely to change. Because these roads link remote Arctic areas to the rest of the North American road system, climate change may substantially affect saf...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acb5b1 |
| _version_ | 1827869848018878464 |
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| author | Heather E Greaves Natalie T Boelman Todd J Brinkman Glen E Liston Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking |
| author_facet | Heather E Greaves Natalie T Boelman Todd J Brinkman Glen E Liston Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking |
| author_sort | Heather E Greaves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As Arctic and boreal regions rapidly warm, the frequency and seasonal timing of hazardous driving conditions on all-season Arctic-boreal roads are likely to change. Because these roads link remote Arctic areas to the rest of the North American road system, climate change may substantially affect safety and quality of life for northern residents and commercial enterprises. To gain insight into future hazardous driving conditions, we built Random Forest models that predict the occurrence of hazardous driving conditions by linking snow, ice, and weather simulated by a spatially explicit modeling system (SnowModel) to archived road condition reports from two highly trafficked all-season northern roads: the Dalton Highway (Alaska, USA) and Dempster Highway (Yukon, Canada). We applied these models to downscaled future climate trajectories for the study period of 2006–2100. We estimated future trends in the frequency and timing of icy, wet-icy, and snowy road surfaces, blowing and drifting snow, and high winds. We found that as the climate warms, and the portion of the year when snow and ice occur becomes shorter, overall frequency of snow storms and ice- and snow-related driving hazards decreased. For example, the mean number of days per year when roads are covered in snow or ice decreased by 51 d (−21%) on the Dalton Highway between the 2006–2020 and 2081–2100 time periods. However, the intensity of storms was predicted to increase, resulting in higher mean annual storm wind speeds (Dalton +0.56 m s ^−1 [+17%]) and snowfall totals (Dalton +0.3 cm [+36%]). Our models also predicted increasing frequency of wet-icy driving conditions during November, December, January, and February, when daylength is short and hazardous conditions may be more difficult to perceive. Our findings may help road managers and drivers adapt their expectations and behaviors to minimize accident risk on Arctic-boreal roads in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64addd88e6094b4aa72af18f8b83ea63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-64addd88e6094b4aa72af18f8b83ea632023-08-09T15:12:59ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262023-01-0118202500610.1088/1748-9326/acb5b1Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regionsHeather E Greaves0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8800-019XNatalie T Boelman1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3716-2372Todd J Brinkman2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5375-4840Glen E Liston3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5743-035XLaura R Prugh4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9045-3107Adele K Reinking5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9082-4315Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University , Palisades, NY, United States of AmericaInstitute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaCooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO, United States of AmericaSchool of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, WA, United States of AmericaCooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO, United States of AmericaAs Arctic and boreal regions rapidly warm, the frequency and seasonal timing of hazardous driving conditions on all-season Arctic-boreal roads are likely to change. Because these roads link remote Arctic areas to the rest of the North American road system, climate change may substantially affect safety and quality of life for northern residents and commercial enterprises. To gain insight into future hazardous driving conditions, we built Random Forest models that predict the occurrence of hazardous driving conditions by linking snow, ice, and weather simulated by a spatially explicit modeling system (SnowModel) to archived road condition reports from two highly trafficked all-season northern roads: the Dalton Highway (Alaska, USA) and Dempster Highway (Yukon, Canada). We applied these models to downscaled future climate trajectories for the study period of 2006–2100. We estimated future trends in the frequency and timing of icy, wet-icy, and snowy road surfaces, blowing and drifting snow, and high winds. We found that as the climate warms, and the portion of the year when snow and ice occur becomes shorter, overall frequency of snow storms and ice- and snow-related driving hazards decreased. For example, the mean number of days per year when roads are covered in snow or ice decreased by 51 d (−21%) on the Dalton Highway between the 2006–2020 and 2081–2100 time periods. However, the intensity of storms was predicted to increase, resulting in higher mean annual storm wind speeds (Dalton +0.56 m s ^−1 [+17%]) and snowfall totals (Dalton +0.3 cm [+36%]). Our models also predicted increasing frequency of wet-icy driving conditions during November, December, January, and February, when daylength is short and hazardous conditions may be more difficult to perceive. Our findings may help road managers and drivers adapt their expectations and behaviors to minimize accident risk on Arctic-boreal roads in the future.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acb5b1road conditionstravel safetyMERRA-2GFDL-CM3NCAR-CCSM4SnowModel |
| spellingShingle | Heather E Greaves Natalie T Boelman Todd J Brinkman Glen E Liston Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions Environmental Research Letters road conditions travel safety MERRA-2 GFDL-CM3 NCAR-CCSM4 SnowModel |
| title | Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions |
| title_full | Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions |
| title_fullStr | Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions |
| title_short | Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions |
| title_sort | simulating future climate change impacts on snow and ice related driving hazards in arctic boreal regions |
| topic | road conditions travel safety MERRA-2 GFDL-CM3 NCAR-CCSM4 SnowModel |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acb5b1 |
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