Skip to content

Banff, Jasper and Calgary recording highest temperature increases: study

Banff, Jasper and Calgary recording highest temperature increases
13145798_web1_CPT116492908

Banff, Jasper and Calgary recording highest temperature increases

CALGARY — A researcher from the University of Calgary says temperatures are on the rise across Alberta but Calgary, along with Banff and Jasper national parks, are really feeling the heat.

Khan Rubayet Rahaman, who specializes in urban and geomatics engineering, has studied Alberta climate change using detailed temperature measurements from satellite data. It dates back to 1961 and goes up to the most current measurable decade ending in 2010.

The data suggests more than two-thirds of Alberta experienced local warming trends since 1961 ranging from one-quarter of a degree to more than 1 C.

“The most significant issue we discovered was that the Banff area, Calgary, Grande Prairie, and the northwestern part of the province actually experienced a significant increase in temperature and it might be because of population, tourism and industrial activities,” Rahaman said.

“Jasper is included in there up in the Grande Prairie area. The temperature actually increased up to 1.2 C.”

He suggested urban sprawl adds to the problem — new communities are dependent on cars which require more roads and create greater traffic congestion.

All of Alberta’s major cities saw a significant increase except for Edmonton, which warmed about one-quarter of a degree.