Wind
Winds generate grasslands and energy.
Fierce winds blowing off the ice sheets during the last glacial age played an important role in the formation and ecology of Beringia. Air, cooled by the ice, flowed downslope as strong katabatic winds. They still blow off the coastal range glaciers of Alaska and the Yukon today.
Powerful glacial winds enriched soils with loess.
During the last glacial age, katabatic winds blew over sparsely vegetated areas covered with rocky debris left by melting glaciers. Small rock particles were picked up by the wind, carried long distances, and then deposited in thick beds of loess. During periods of glacial retreat, winds blew plant seeds from unglaciated areas onto these fertile loess beds. Loess also enriched the soils of Beringia during periods of glacial advance, creating the "mammoth steppe."
White River ash covers the foot of the Klutan glacier. 1,150 years ago, it was
carried about 40 km from the site of the eruption by prevailing winds. Photo:
John Meikle, Government of Yukon
Winds on Haeckel Hill create green energy.
Rime icing is one of the northern operating challenges wind power faces in the
Yukon. Photo: Bill Haydock, Yukon Energy Corporation.
Inset: Haeckel Hill wind turbines: the Bonus (smaller) turbine to the right,
the Vestas (larger) turbine to the left. Photo: Government of
Yukon
On Haeckel Hill to the northwest, you can see two wind turbines. The smaller "Bonus" turbine on the right was erected by Yukon Energy in 1993 to test the feasibility of wind energy in subarctic climates. It provides power to 23 homes. After solving a variety of northern operating challenges, the larger "Vestas" turbine was installed in 2000. It supplies electricity to 130 homes.
Wind turbines produce no carbon dioxide and have minimal environmental impacts making them a green energy source. The winds at the Haeckel site blow strongest in the winter months reducing the need for diesel-generated electricity.
Wind resource monitoring projects are being undertaken throughout the Yukon in an effort to make wind energy a competitive source of renewable power for the territory.