Adapting to a new climate
Near Fitzroy Harbour west of Ottawa, the owners of a riding stable are preparing to sell more than 20 horses — half of their herd. And they are not alone. Across Eastern Ontario, during this summer of drought, farmers have been selling livestock at a loss because there is nothing to feed them, watching crops die and trying to figure out how they will hang on for another year.
The perils of extreme weather are nothing new for farmers. But when is a hot, dry summer more than simply an extreme weather event and part of a bigger pattern?
The answer to that question, according to a growing stack of statistical analyses and scientific opinions, is now. While it is nearly impossible to say whether individual events — droughts, floods, hail, for example — are caused by global warming, doing so is increasingly irrelevant. The evidence that climate change is upon us and is causing more extreme weather is convincing: It is time to make adaptation an urgent policy priority.
Rapid ice melts, warming oceans, warmer temperatures and growing numbers of extreme weather events are among the compelling evidence of rapid climate change, according to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998. There are many examples of the impacts of climate change across Canada — from northern villages sinking into melting tundra, to eroding coastlines, changing marine habitat and rock slides. “This is not some scientific theory,” NASA scientist James Hansen said earlier this month, “we are now experiencing a scientific fact.”
The challenge facing policy-makers at all levels of government is to find ways to help Canadians adapt to the effects of a changing climate in order to minimize, or at least reduce, their impact.
The federal government is paying attention to the issue. In 2011, it pumped $150 million into programs “designed to improve our understanding of climate change and to help Canadians prepare for climate-related impacts.” A significant portion of that money will go to helping northern communities — some of which are already considering relocating because of thawing tundra — adapt. Provinces are also studying the issue, as are municipalities and other agencies. The National Capital Commission even commissioned a study on the effect of climate change on Winterlude. (Among its suggestions: use refrigerated trucks for the ice-carving contests).
But all levels of government must soon move beyond study and take more action. A recent report from the University of Waterloo-based Climate Change Adaptation Project, funded by Intact Financial Corporation, an insurance company, calls for a national initiative to identify urgent priorities. It says city infrastructure should be among those priorities.
Addressing potential problems before they happen — with the installation of inexpensive backwater valves in homes, for example, to reduce basement flooding — saves money and makes sense. There is a growing body of knowledge and expertise, including the work of the Climate Change Adaptation Project, about how federal, provincial and municipal governments should go about making changes that will mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce the risks to Canadians.
Climate change adaptation is largely free of the kind of politics that has dogged the issue of climate change mitigation. The federal government has been weak when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its approach to climate change adaptation, in contrast, has been refreshingly straightforward, an inconsistency that will become more stark as the effects of climate change increase.
Meanwhile, Canadians will need help adapting to the effects of a changing climate. It will take focus and co-operation from many levels of government and industry and there is no time to waste.
Ottawa Citizen
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