Canadian snowpack gets thinner every decade: Environment Canada study

It may not feel like it the morning after a blizzard, but Canada gets less snow than it used to.

That's the conclusion of a 15-year study from scientists at Environment Canada, who have just published the most precise estimate yet of snowfall around the world.

They say that snowfall in Canada and the northern United States has been decreasing at a rate of 46 gigatonnes of snow a decade since 1980.

That's a lot of snow — enough to fill 18.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools with meltwater.

Study co-author Chris Derksen says the decrease is happening mostly because climate change has shortened the snowfall season.

Much of what used to come down as snow now happens as rain.

But he says whether precipitation falls as solid or liquid makes a big difference to people managing flood risk or water supplies.