CBC News - Climate change a 'disaster in slow motion' for places like P.E.I., experts say
Click here to read the article on CBC News.
Sea-level rise is already having a devastating impact on coastal communities around Canada, and these impacts are set to increase in severity as time goes on. The most immediate and obvious impacts of sea-level rise and increasing storm intensity are coastal erosion like we saw in Price Edward Island earlier this year following Hurricane Fiona.
But sea-level rise will also exert significant impacts on the basic water balance of coastal areas, groundwater-surface water interactions, and depth to groundwater, and these impacts will likely extend much further inland than a shift in coastline.
Keep an eye on the Canada1Water project to learn more about how sea-level rise will impact groundwater and surface water resources in coastal areas.
“Fenech called P.E.I. the proverbial canary in the coal mine in terms of being at the forefront of climate change impacts. But that also gives scientists and governments a jump on understanding where and what the best methods are for adapting to and living with climate change, he said.”
“While rising waters claim land, he said there is also the added threat of flooding and erosion.”
Satellite imagery (ESA/Copernicus Sentinel-2) illustrating the severity of coastal erosion caused by Hurricane Fiona. Images depict the PEI coastline on August 25th, 2022 (before) and September 25th, 2022 (after)