[MUSIC] Mountains are the ultimate shape shifters. Sometimes mountains change gradually, the consequence of millions of years of erosion. Other times the changes are sudden, unpredictable and violent. Over the centuries human societies have found ways to manage the risks that mountains pose and to enjoy the rich biological, economic, and cultural diversity of these places. Avalanches are a really good example of risks that can be managed through improved forecasting based on a wide network of monitoring stations. In Canada, forecasts provided by Avalanche Canada are updated daily in the winter months. But there are some things that are likely difficult to prepare for. For example, earthquakes and volcanoes, two of the geological processes associated with mountain building which are still unpredictable. In recent years, researchers have discovered that the Yellowstone National Park Supervolcano is two and a half times larger than previously thought. And it could erupt with 2,000 times the force of Mount St. Helens. A blast this size would devastate western North America and have global consequences for decades. Sulfur entering the upper atmosphere would turn to sulfur dioxide and circling the earth and spurring a drop in temperature. World wide famine would likely ensue. Researchers have calculated what the blast would look like based on smaller eruptions. But humankind has never seen anything matching Yellowstone's potential destructive force. The last documented super volcano eruption was roughly 74,000 years ago, in the present day Lake Toba in Indonesia. Here to explain more about Yellowstone, is University of Alberta geophysicist, Dr. Martin Unsworth. >> A supervolcano is a volcano which when it erupts, it erupts more than a thousand cubic kilometers of rock, which is a really large volume. And this isn't happened very often in the geological record. In fact, there hasn't been one during recorded human history. Yellowstone is a supervolcano because we've seen three times there's been an eruption. In the last two million years, which has ejected a very large amount of rock and ash. And it's a good evidence that these eruptions have occurred about every 600,000 years, and the last one was about 600,000 years ago. So, there was some evidence that Yellowstone is perhaps reaching a point where we might expect to see in the next period of time, another eruption. One of the really interesting things about supervolcanoes is the magma chambers that feed them. So magma is liquid rock, partially molten rock which sits in the Earth's crust. And sometimes these grow to a certain size and then they erupt, for example like Mount Mazama that formed Crater Lake that magma chamber no longer existed. It erupted and blew the mountain to pieces. When magma chambers like the one below Yellowstone, they can often persist for hundreds of thousands of years. And often they actually burrow horizontally, like a tumor almost, in a human body. And they eventually will fail when the lid collapses and that exposes all of this magma which is often rich in gases. Some of the pressure drops and that causes the eruption. So a lot of research is going on understanding how these magma chambers develop, how long they can live and actually what gives that final trigger for the eruption. Why Yellowstone is very carefully monitored, sometimes volcanic eruptions take us by surprise. Sometimes it's only hours or even minutes warning that something's going to happen. What with something like Yellowstone, the molten rock, the eruption will come from a large magma chamber. Which is sitting right below the volcano and that is monitored fairly carefully. For example, if the magma begins to move towards the surface, it will cause small earthquakes and they will be measured by the instruments at the surface. There's also leveling and surveying instruments which measure up and down movements of a few millimeters at the surface. So Yellowstone's active, all of these things are varying, there are small earthquakes, there are vertical motions. But before a large eruption, we would expect to see this increase many times in intensity. If Yellowstone was to erupt, everything depends on the wind direction. We could see probably anything from one to five, to perhaps ten centimeters of volcanic ash, close to the volcano. Which is enough to have a pretty big impact on agriculture. >> Okay, so there's some things we can't prepare for, like some of the big seismic related hazards. But there are many future challenges for mountain places and people that we can prepare for, and or mitigate. Internationally, mountains have never had so much attention as they do right now. And there are many organizations around the world focused on increasing public and private sector attention. Commitment engagement, and investments in sustainable mountain development. The umbrella organization for these efforts is the Mountain Partnership. A United Nations voluntary alliance partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain peoples and protecting mountain environments around the world. Founded in 2002, the Mountain Partnership addresses the challenges facing mountain regions. By tapping the diversity of resources, knowledge, information and expertise of its members. The Mountain Partnership has been able to stimulate concrete initiatives at all levels that improve quality of life and environments in the world's mountain regions. Currently more than 250 governments, inter-governmental organizations, NGO, civil society, private sector organizations and sub-national authorities are members. Each year on December 11th, members of the Mountain Partnership observe International Mountain Day. With a different theme relative to sustainable mountain development each year. International Mountain Day is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life. And to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development. >> Here at home Canadians continue to recognize and celebrate the importance of mountains. Despite our country's diversity of landscapes, mountains frequently produce in people a unique sense of national pride. The regular stand-ins representing our sense of north. Mountains have long adorned our currency, and our most visited national parks and protected areas are in mountains as well. Mountains have also featured in some of our most treasured artistic creations, and here's one great example. >> Listen to the reverence paid to artist Lawren Harris, a member of the famous group of seven artists from the 1920s, by the curatorial team of the recent Harris exhibition. The Idea of North, The Paintings of Lawren Harris, was co-organized in 2014 by the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, have a look. >> Here's an artist who is national, but deserves to be international. He's not telling the story of landscape. He's taken it to another level of the metaphysics of landscape. I saw Harris in some books in an auction catalog, and I thought, you know what? I've discovered this artist that no one really knows about. How stupid I was that the painting I saw in the auction catalog went for two million dollars. [LAUGH] I guess people know about him. It's hard for me to remember when I first encountered Harris, because it just seemed like Harris' work was always there growing up in Canada. He's an artist whose work has appeared over the decades, not just in art museums, but on stamps, on reproductions in schools and in books. Here is somebody that was on par with and was as engaged with the artistic ideas of his time and is a deeply accomplished artist as well. >> I think of him as a modernist. So you look at them, and suddenly you go, well that's a real place. And yet it's surreal and it's made iconic. I think it's interesting on a number of levels when you introduce an artist who has very little familiarity in a certain place, is that people will come thinking what is this? Who is Lawren Harris? And then they will see these paintings, and this representation of a landscape they might not even be that familiar with. But somehow, I think that our audiences will really connect with this, and particularly the artists in our audience who are always really interested in what the Hammer has to show them. >> I think that this is really going to touch people. I think that the pictures are fantastic. I think the art will just speak for itself. >> It's easy to assume that all Canadians have an innate connection to our mountain wilderness places, but despite widespread adoration of mountains, it's something that needs to be continually fostered. The growing numbers of Canadians, having emigrated from other countries and cultures, and young Canadians living in urban environments, the connection to national parks and wild spaces is waning. Parks Canada is working to ensure that all Canadians connect with these special places. And their hope is that Canadian youth and new Canadians, all Canadians, are able to share a passion and appreciation for mountain places. And that through personal connection, they can develop a sense of place and belonging, a sense of stewardship and responsibility for mountains, for nature, and for our shared future. Here again is Pat Thomsen, Parks Canada's Executive Director for the Pacific and Mountain Parks. >> Pat, everywhere I'm traveling in national parks these days, I'm seeing the red chairs. What are the red chairs? >> Red chairs are just a simple way for Canadians to take a moment in a magnificent spot, like here at Takakkaw Falls. Which, in fact, is a Cree word that means magnificent. To stop and take time to connect, in fact, that's what we call the initiative. There are more than a hundred sets of red chairs across our park system. Started with the simple idea in Gros Morne, because of some of the stunning vistas you can see there, to just put chairs where people could stop and take a minute and mark that moment in time with a picture, or Tweet, or Instagram, and just share that moment in time in that place. It's really grown into quite an exciting program that the chairs continue to appear at various places. Currently, we have two young guys out of Calgary, ten year old twins that have the best record we know of. They just sent us their picture of their 81st set of red chairs that through the support of their grandparents and their parents, they are determined that these boys know and see of their cultural and natural histories. because the chairs are both in the parks, and in our national historic sites across the system. >> The theme of this lesson is one of change. These landscapes are changing rapidly with us today. From Parks Canada's perspective, what does the future of mountains look like? >> Well, I'm going to answer about the future by referring to the past. We were the first park service in the world. The foresight of our early Canadian government to know that these places, starting here in the Canadian Rockies, needed to be protected to facilitate Canadians coming to these places, being able to refresh their souls, to challenge their minds and bodies, and to be renewed and rejuvenated by nature. That mandate those concepts are enshrined in our mandate to protect these places for the enjoyment and education of current and future generations, so that won't change. The landscape that we are working in may change, the way we work in the landscape may change, our goal to connecting people to these places remain absolutely solid. There is that segment of the Canadian population where the connection is very real and very alive. There are others, young Canadians, urban Canadians, new Canadians, where we are working to find the ways to facilitate connections for people that might not naturally be drawn to these places. When you come and experience, you build a connection, and when you have a connection, you become a steward. And stewards will guard these places in the future for their generation of ones to follow them. >> Canadians love mountains, but don't take our word for it. Our last commentator knows a fair bit about mountains. >> He spent much of his formative years as a snowboarding instructor in the town of Whistler, British Columbia. He's a tireless supporter of snow safety, and public avalanche education. And not so long ago, he visited the mountain named for his father, in the Premier range of the Caribou Mountains, near Valemont, British Columbia. Can you guess who? It's our pleasure to introduce to you the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, the right honorable, Justin Trudeau. >> Hello my friends, [FOREIGN] McKenzie King once said, while other countries have too much history, Canada has too much geography. Many respectfully disagree, I know I can't get enough. From lakes and forests, to mountains and glaciers, our natural beauty is vast and almost unparalleled. Like most Canadians, I have an enduring love and appreciation for the great outdoors. All my life, I embraced every opportunity to adventure into our mountain wilderness and put everything into perspective. In fact, now that I'm Prime Minister, it's even more important to me to get out there to see things clearly. Canada's history may be young, but it's geography has made us wise. We built this country on the backdrop of majestic and unforgiving settings, the Canadian Shield, the Atlantic coast, the Rocky Mountains, the Arctic. We are defined by these landscapes highest peaks, most powerful rivers, and far reaching forests. [FOREIGN]. They are home, and they are us. So, we must be their stewards today, tomorrow, and in all the days to come. Congratulations on your completion of Mountains 101. Now, get out there. >> And that brings us to the end of the lesson and the end for the course. Congratulations, we hope that you've enjoyed the journey as much as we have. Mountains are spectacular and special places. We've tried to introduce you to a variety of perspectives, historical, cultural, geological, ecological, but most importantly, the integration of those various disciplines and a rounded understanding of the mountain world. >> Throughout Mountains 101, we've tried to provide you with sufficient information to continue learning more about mountains. Check out the reading list at the end of this lesson for some ideas of where to continue your studies. Remember to celebrate International Mountain Day on December 11th. And make sure you join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. We'd love to hear what you think of the course, and to hear about your mountain experiences. >> And before you go, we need to express our thanks to all of those people who've contributed their time and expertise to this course. We hope you appreciated their insights. But most of all we want to thank you for sharing your time with us. We'll see you next time in the mountains. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] My name is Martin Sharp, I'm a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. And my favorite mountain is the Matterhorn. I guess because I worked in an area very close to the Matterhorn for seven years in the 1980s and 1990s. And it was a highlight to get on top of one of the ridges around the glacier we were working on and see the Matterhorn in the distance. Iconic mountain in terms of the history of mountaineering, but also the history of glaciology. >> My name's Laura Redmond, and I'm a field ecologist in the Canadian Rockies. My favorite mountain is Mount Kidd in Kananaskis. It was one of the first mountains that I hiked in the Canadian Rockies and over the course of a summer working as a field assistant. I hiked it 22 times, so I have a lot of memories there, both good and bad. But it was really what helped me to fall in love with mountain research and why I'm here today. >> My name's Joanna Croston and I'm the programming director for the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. And my favorite mountain is Mount Louis, right here in Banff National Park. The reason I love it so much is, aesthetically it's this perfect mountain peak. But when you're climbing it, you can't help but remember the first ascent, and you feel steeped in history. >> My name is Todd Keith, I'm a land use specialist with Parks Canada based in Yoho National Park. My favorite mountain is probably Mount King in the Van Horne Range. This range is visible from Field as you look to the west. And seeing the morning light on those mountains, especially in winter, is just sublime. >> Craig Steinback, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta. My favorite mountain is probably Mount Temple. Reason for that is, being from Ontario and not growing up around mountains, Mount Temple was probably the first mountain I was exposed to as a visitor to the Lake Louise area. It dominates the skyline in that area. >> Hi, my name is Pat Thomsen. I'm the Executive Director, Pacifica Mountain National Parks. I'm going to call Mount Rundle my favorite mountain because I watch it out my office window everyday. I see the play of shadow and sun, of snow and rain, it is a wonderful thing to get to do. >> Okay, my name is Martin Unsworth, I'm a professor of Geophysics at the University of Alberta. And my favorite mountain would have to be Mount St. Helens in Washington. This is the most active volcano in the western United States, and it's one where I've worked and we've learnt so much about volcanic eruptions. And in particular what triggers eruptions and what signs there are ahead of an eruption that might be a warning. >> My name's Mark Taylor, I'm an aquatic ecologist in Banff National Park, my favorite mountain is Mount Temple in Lake Louise, because I've had lots of challenging climbing adventures there. >> My name is Lee Smith, Parks Canada, I'm the Project Liaison for Mountains 101. My favorite mountain is Mount Whitehorn in Banff National Park. It's what first brought me out to the Canadian Rockies to ski as a ski professional. It's the home of the Lake Louise ski area, I've lived here now 22 years, close to Mount Whitehorn. It's got some of the best vistas in the Canadian Rockies. >> Hi, my name is Jeff Goodrich, I'm the Senior Avalanche Officer in Glacier National Park and Rogers Pass. And my favorite mountain is Avalanche Mountain, because that's where Major AB Rogers discovered Rogers Pass from. >> My name is Dr. Jessamyn Manson, I'm an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia. And my favorite mountain is Salt Pond Mountain in southwestern Virginia which is 1200 meters tall. It's part of the Appalachian Mountain Range and it's the home of the Mountain Lake Biological Station. >> Hi, my name's Derek Petersen, I'm the Ecological Integrity Monitoring Coordinator for the Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks of Canada My favorite mountain would have to be Mount Odaray in Yoho National Park. And the reason I would choose that is because it was my first real resource management project upon arriving down in the Yoho, Banff, Kootenay National Parks area. [MUSIC] >> My name is John Waldron, I teach Structural and Field Geology here at the University of Alberta My favorite mountain is Blow Me Down Mountain in Western Newfoundland in the Bay of Islands. Blow Me Down Mountain has a complete section through the oceanic crust. You can stand on the earth's mantle, you can see ocean floor sediments, and it's a very windy place as the name implies. >> I'm Stephen Slemon, a Professor of English at the University of Alberta. And my favorite mountain is Mount Saskatchewan in the Columbia Icefields, for a reason that every person who goes into the mountains will understand, masochism. I've tried to climb that mountain three times and I've failed three times. >> My name is Isabel Barrio and I'm a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Iceland. And I'm originally from Spain, and my favorite mountain is Molas En. It's part of Sierra Nevada and it's nearly 3,500 meters, and it's a very beautiful place. [MUSIC] [SOUND]
