CBC News - 2022 was another record hot year. Experts say we must prepare for more climate-related disasters
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A new report by the Copernicus Climate Change Service indicates that we’ve just had the warmest 8-year stretch in recorded history for the globe, and there are of course local impacts affecting communities across Canada. This article from CBC News talks about what the new normal will be if temperatures continue to rise. Our current infrastructure is not built for these extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfire and cannot withstand the damage from them. What makes this pattern even more troubling is that for the past three years we have been in the midst of a cyclical climate phenomenon called La Niña, which typically brings cooler winters to Canada. What’s more if this Southern Oscillation pattern switches to El Niño (which typically brings warmer winters) how much of a difference that would make to the average temperature?
Scientists are now more certain than ever that global temperatures will rise by 1.5 degrees this century, and possibly even in the next few decades. This is yet another example of how important it is to give tools to Canadians to help them adapt to new climate conditions. The Canada1Water project aims to do just that: give policymakers, community decision makers, infrastructure planners, researchers, the public information on how to best act when these disasters do strike but also, give citizens ways to make decisions and stay informed.
Having a data and modelling framework to influence climate change mitigation and adaptation measures across continental Canada will be extremely beneficial to all Canadians!
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“It’s not a cliff edge,” Burgess said of the 1.5 C temperature. “Every fraction of a degree matters. It matters for the types of heat waves that we have in summer, and the implications that has for vulnerable parts of our community. It matters for ecosystems, whether fish can breed or not, whether the right prey species is available in the right season for species to flourish.”
“In our report, we cover that the last eight years have been the warmest eight years on record. Last year, we said that the last seven years have been the seven-warmest years on record,” said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The reality is that the climate that we’re living in right now, our infrastructure is not fit for this purpose.”
“It’s a reminder that, as the planet warms, we will experience more and more climate-related disasters, and we need to be better prepared, experts say.”
Buildings sit in the water along the shore following Hurricane Fiona in Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou, N.L., last September. As the earth's temperature rises, experts say governments need to re-examine where homes are built in order to avoid impacts by flooding and wildfires. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)