Ice Roads Ease Isolation in Canada’s North, but They’re Melting Too Soon
Alvin Fiddler said that These roads are the only way our people can survive,
" he said, "and when he came back in the morning, his truck was gone." About 30 miles ahead, deep in the forest, white ptarmigan birds watched as a crew
built up the winter road over spongy permafrost for a path toward Whati, an indigenous community of 500 people. that A guy parked on the ice overnight,
Mr. Schumann said climate change was also to blame for the troubles with the ice roads, which are built anew each year by hardy crews using heavy-duty plows, radar and water sprays to add layers of smooth ice
that can support even the weight of a tractor-trailer full of mining equipment.
By DAN LEVINAPRIL 19, 2017
ON THE TLICHO WINTER ROAD, Northwest Territories — In Canada’s northern latitudes, the frigid winter means freedom.
But that still leaves 10 of the territory’s remote communities dependent on winter roads
and ice bridges across lakes, rivers and permafrost, delicate ground that has been frozen for thousands of years.
But Canada’s ice roads — more than 3,300 miles of them — have been freezing later and melting earlier, drastically reducing the precious window of time
that isolated residents rely on to restock a year’s worth of vital supplies, or to simply take a road trip.
