Landslides and historic climate in northern British Columbia

We have assembled inventories of landslides and climate trends in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada for the past century. Some landslides in this region occur during or soon after intense rainstorms and other severe weather events. However on the northern BC coast, only the largest storms of the last century are responsible for most landslides. Others landslides have delayed responses to such events or occur after shifts in climate. We consider the relationships between storms and shallow debris slides, debris flows, and between 20th century climate change and large soil and rock slope failures. Debuttressing of valley walls due to thinning and retreat of glaciers, thaw of permafrost under a warming climate, and increased precipitation have contributed to an increase in landslides in northern BC during the past century. We consider the implications of future climate change scenarios and the interplay of disturbance agents such as forest insect epidemics and wildfire on future landslide frequency.