Compounded Impacts of Global Warming and Anthropogenic Disturbances on Snowmelt in Northern Baffin Island

Abstract

Fugitive dust arising from mining operations in the Arctic can be a concern to surrounding communities. The Mary River Mine operation on northwest Baffin Island in the Qikiqtani region, Nunavut, is one example. Yet, the short and long-term impacts of fugitive dust remain poorly understood. Dust lowers snow albedo which can contribute to early snowmelt. This influences the spring snowmelt freshet period, significant to the land-atmosphere interactions, hydrology, ecology, and socioeconomic activities in the Arctic. Here, we map dust extents indicated by snow discoloration and examine for areas of early snowmelt using a 21-year MODIS time series snow cover product in 2000–2020. We found an episode of dust plume extended far beyond the reference dust sampler sites from where Nil dustfall is detected. A snow albedo decrease of 0.014 was seen more than 60 km away from the mine site. Incidents of early snowmelt existed extensively and progressively prior to the Mary River Mine operations; however, localized and even earlier snowmelt also appear around Mine’s operations; we estimated that the snow-off date was advanced by one week and three weeks for the background, and areas around the Mine facilities, respectively, during the 21-year period. Furthermore, the area increase in early snowmelt around the Mine facilities correlates to ore production growth. This study demonstrates rapid changes in early snowmelt beyond observed regional trends when additional drivers are introduced.