Transcript: Chris Derksen - Snow, Ice and Permafrost, Research Scientist
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CHRIS DERKSEN (Research Scientist): I do research on the Arctic, specifically snow on land and sea ice over the ocean; how that’s changed over the past few decades and how our climate models project it will change into the future.
CHRIS DERKSEN (Research Scientist): I had the opportunity to do some field work in the Canadian Arctic, which was a pretty unique and rare chance for someone of my age at that time, and once I spent one field season in the Arctic, I really caught the bug to keep going back. So that was about 25 years ago, and I’ve been… I’ve gone back quite a few times since then.
CHRIS DERKSEN (Research Scientist): So, it’s really this interest and focus on the north because we know the northern part of Canada is warming faster than the rest of Canada. So, this interest and focus on the north has really driven me to keep going in this research.
CHRIS DERKSEN (Research Scientist): We’re sort of at a fork in the road. So, our climate models show very clearly that as we move forward in time to 2050 and the decades beyond that, there’s different pathways we can take. We’re not locked into any specific future at this point, so it really depends on how our global CO2 emissions evolve in the coming decades, and that will lead to either a slightly warmer Canada or a very warmer Canada Really, we’re at this fork in the road and how we move forward is really key at this point.
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