The planet does go through natural cycles of climate change. However, current levels of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane are at the highest levels ever recorded from ice core samples within the last 800,000 years (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2013). These GHG’s, most simply, act to trap heat in the atmosphere and they can stay in the atmosphere for thousands of years and continue to affect the temperature. Human activity has been responsible for this massive increase in GHG’s since the industrial revolution, but we can change behaviours, and processes to decrease the amount of GHG’s that continue to be emitted. There are a few key areas to focus on: move away from emitting any GHG’s, utilize technology and natural solutions to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and finally prepare for the climate change that will occur from previously emitted GHG’s. The latter can be supplemented by global and regional climate projections, which can provide scenarios on changes depending on action (or inaction).

Canada is getting warmer and will continue to do so. Northern Canada is predicted to warm at double the global rate and has already experienced an annual temperature increase of 2.3 degrees Celsius (Bush et al., 2019).  As Canada is a geographically large country, different regions will experience different climate impacts in terms of temperature, precipitation, snowpack, extreme weather events, sea level and fresh-water availability. Some areas may experience droughts while other areas are flooding. The frequency of temperature extremes is also projected increase, with the likelihood of very cold or very hot days to happen closer to 5-year cycles vs 20-year cycles (Bush et al., 2019). This brings to mind Edmonton Alberta where I live, this summer has been very hot and the previously set record of 6 consecutive plus thirty days in 1961 was just tied (Wakefield, 2021).  In contrast, the winter of 2018 had a record breaking 167 days below 0 degrees in Edmonton (Robb, 2018). However, the six really hot days arguably affected people more drastically than the 167 cold days, as we know how to deal with extended cold, not extended heat. A furnace is a necessity in Edmonton; however, an air conditioner is a luxury, and things may slow down when a huge snowfall occurs and its -35 degrees celsius, but never have I experienced a ‘snow day’. Whereas during the recent heat wave, I had many conversations with friends and family about how we felt we needed a ‘sun day’ to escape the heat in any way we could- as we were having trouble coping. Extreme cold spells undoubtedly negatively impact people as well, and heat waves may feel like a nice relief for others. It makes me wonder about what adaptation measures we can focus resources on to better prepare cities and people for changing climate, that they are not prepared for. We in Edmonton have adapted to live in 167 consecutive days below freezing, how do we share the strategies we use and maintain or improve the infrastructure we rely on to continue to do this and become more resilient to heat and precipitation as well.

 Moser et al., 2017 postulate that climate change adaptation in the United States has been “mostly reactive, rather than proactive” in terms of handling natural disasters and climate related changes. In Canada, I believe that the climate adaptation field needs to be developed proactively in order to prevent widespread consequences, and to equip people with the tools and support to manage climate change. Scientific projections can give us an idea of a quasi-long term weather forecast, but there is still uncertainty of how the majority of the global population will engage with this information- and choose to follow a sustainable route or not. The path to emission reduction within the next 20 years is crucial and human behaviour remains a large uncertainty (Bush et al., 2019).  Concurrently, there is passion and determination to not only address the issue of climate change, but to use it as an opportunity to reevaluate how the current systems we live by can be refined to be more equitable and sustainable. It brings the solution beyond GHG reduction and necessitates inclusion and diversity in decision making at all levels.

References

Bush, E., Gillett, N., Bonsal, B., Cohen, S., Derksen, C., Flato, G., Greenan, B., Shepherd, M., & Zhang, X. (2019). Canada’s Changing Climate Report: Executive Summary. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

Masson-Delmotte, V., M. Schulz, A. Abe-Ouchi, J. Beer, A. Ganopolski, J.F. González Rouco, E. Jansen, K. Lambeck, J. Luterbacher, T. Naish, T. Osborn, B. Otto-Bliesner, T. Quinn, R. Ramesh, M. Rojas, X. Shao and A. Timmermann, 2013: Information from Paleoclimate Archives. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

Moser, S., Coffee, J., & Sevile A. (2017) Rising to the Challenge, Together: A Review and Critical Assessment of the State of the US Climate Adaptation Field. Kresge Foundation, 1- 106.

Robb, T. (2018, April 13). At least there are no mosquitoes: Edmonton has had 167 days at or below zero degrees. Edmonton Journal. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/at-least-there-are-no-mosquitoes-edmonton-has-had-167-days-at-or-below-zero-degrees

Wakefield, J. (2021, July 1). Edmonton ties record for longest streak of above 30 C days; other records continue to fall. Edmonton Journal.https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-ties-record-for-longest-streak-of-30-c-days-other-records-continue-to-fall