$28M funding strengthens capacity in polar and cold climate research

Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) has confirmed $28 million funding to stimulate research on Canada’s polar regions, alpine glaciers and snowpack. The funds support 36 university-based research projects and partnerships. The CFCAS investment will enhance Canada’s involvement in, and contributions to, International Polar Year – the largest-ever international program of scientific research focused on the earth’s Polar Regions.

Major initiatives funded by CFCAS include research on:

– winter storms in the Iqaluit area, to help improve the safety of northern communities;

– pollution transport from the south and its impact on the northern environment and on air quality; research on Arctic ozone and on mercury in the Arctic;

– rapid climate change in high latitudes as well as land and sea ice stability in the Arctic;

– climate variability through the ages and what it tells us to expect in the future;

– the influence of tropical oceans on Arctic climate;

– the melting of glaciers in the mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, and its implications for regional water supply;

– key climate processes in the northern territories and Rocky Mountains and their impact on water resources and surface weather.

CFCAS is an autonomous foundation established in 2000 to support university-based research on weather and climate. It enhances Canada’s scientific capacity by funding the generation of knowledge in areas of extreme weather, air quality, climate and weather prediction, and the marine environment.