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By Valerie Shore
“The impacts and costs of climate change are now affecting all Canadians, often in insidious ways,” says geographer Dr. Ian Walker, one of 19 lead authors of a Natural Resources Canada report on climate change in Canada, released March 7.
Walker, who studies the impacts of climate change on coastal landscapes and communities, co-led the chapter on British Columbia. Co-lead author of a chapter on Northern Canada is Dr. Terry Prowse, professor and Chair in Climate Impacts on Water Resources in UVic’s Department of Geography and a research scientist with the Water and Climate Impacts Research Centre, a UVic–Environment Canada initiative.
The report, From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007, details what is understood so far about Canada’s vulnerability to climate change during the past decade. It discusses the risks and adaptation opportunities, with a focus on communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.
The BC chapter includes information on water resources, fisheries, forestry, agriculture, tourism/parks, energy, critical infrastructure and health, as well as detailed case studies on alpine glaciers, mountain pine beetles, coastal communities and sea-level rise.
The Northern Canada chapter discusses the implications of changing climate for the Arctic environment, including sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost and related ecosystems. It details what these changes will mean for Northern communities, economic development and Arctic biodiversity.
“The Arctic is a bellwether for climate change and the region most sensitive to climate-induced changes,” says Prowse, a hydrologist who studies the impact of climate change on northern rivers, lakes and deltas. “Internationally, it is the high-latitude regions that are guiding the way forward about how we should and can adapt. Canada is primarily a ‘cold-regions’ country and we can learn much from conditions being experienced in our northern environments.”
The report is intended to inform policy and decision-makers on how to deal with and take advantage of current and future risks and opportunities associated with climate change. In fact, the report documents what some communities are already doing to adapt.
“The report is a resource for anyone who wants to learn more about what is happening in their region,” says Walker. “Climate change is not just a concept. It’s very real and the time to adapt is now.”
Read the report, which includes a summary document.
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