In a startling case of climate change, over 4 days in May 2016, the Slims River suddenly disappeared, leaving windswept mud flats where the Alaska Highway crosses the diminished inlet.

Voluminous glacial meltwaters were suddenly diverted from one side of North America to another — from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska.

Lack of inflow is rapidly changing the water chemistry and fish populations of Kluane Lake.

For the last 300 years until 2016, abundant meltwater from the Kaskawulsh Glacier has been channeled by ice dams to drain via the 150-meter wide Slims River northwards into Kluane Lake.

The Yukon communities of Burwash Landing and Destruction Bay are located on the southern shore of the lake.