The Globe and Mail — Study suggests climate change made B.C. floods at least twice as likely
Click here to read the article.
A report by the Canadian Press highlights a recent study (by the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis) which examines the likely impact that climate change had on last years catastrophic flooding in British Columbia (a topic which was highlighted on the C1W blog here). The study makes it very clear - climate change is making extreme flooding events in the region more and more likely.
Understanding the problems posed by climate change is the first step in adapting to and mitigating these impacts. The Canada 1 Water project will deliver this understanding with respect to Canada’s network of streams, rivers and the groundwater that connects them.
“The study, now undergoing peer review, concludes that the likelihood of similar events in the future will only increase as global warming continues to upend normal weather patterns.
The team concluded that climate change had increased the odds of an atmospheric river like the one that swamped B.C. by at least 60 per cent. [] When the scientists factored in the other contributors to the disaster, they concluded that the odds of what happened to B.C. had been at least doubled by climate change, and may have been quadrupled. And that’s for the current climate, already affected by climate change. The chance of another catastrophe continues to increase as greenhouse gases keep entering the atmosphere.”