Simulating future climate change impacts on snow- and ice-related driving hazards in Arctic-boreal regions

• Published in: Environmental research letters 2023-02, Vol.18 (2), p.25006
• Main Authors: Greaves, Heather E, Boelman, Natalie T, Brinkman, Todd J, Liston, Glen E, Prugh, Laura R, Reinking, Adele K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic zone; Climate change; Climate models; Drifting snow; Driving ability; Driving conditions; Environmental impact; GFDL-CM3; Hazards; Ice; Ice cover; MERRA-2; NCAR-CCSM4; Polar environments; Quality of life; Road conditions; Roads; Roads & highways; Snow; SnowModel; Snowstorms; Storms; travel safety; Wind speed
• ISSN: 1748-9326; 1748-9326
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/acb5b1

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.