Canada’s longest river is drying up and reaching its lowest levels since record-keeping began back in 1934.
The MacKenzie River spans more than 1,000 miles. The shallow waterway is stranding communities that rely on it for barge transportation.
Hydrologist Ryan Cannon says that water levels are now eight feet below average.
According to Cannon, “What we’re seeing here is these extremely low water levels, the result of extreme drought over the last two, two and a half years. Very low rainfall, very high temperatures. We’ve seen a lot of evaporation. We’ve seen a lot of water loss, and it hasn’t been replenished.”
The MacKenzie River is not the only body of water suffering.
Northern Canada’s largest freshwater lake, the Great Slave Lake, is also at its lowest levels on record.
Cannon adds that fluctuating weather patterns with the northern portion of Canada warming faster than other global regions are to blame.
