Within the newly released Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues Report, published on June 28th 2021, “Chapter 3: Rural and Remote Communities” explores the unique climate adaptation challenges facing rural and remote communities, stressing that they “experience environmental, social, economic, cultural and health impacts from climate change disproportionately compared with urban centres” (Voden and Consolo, 2021, p. 107). As we continue to see the effects of climate change impact rural and remote communities, I am curious specifically about the climate impacts facing northern remote and rural communities in Canada. Within this blog post I will explore what factors are affecting warming in the north, specifically Arctic amplification, and briefly highlight calls for increased decision-making power for northern communities in adapting to the changing climate.
The 2019 Executive Summary of Canada’s Changing Climate notes that warming in Canada is “on average, about double the magnitude of global warming” and Northern Canada specifically “has warmed and will continue to warm at even more than double the global rate” (Bush and Lemmen, 2019, p. 5). In comparison to urban centres, rural and remote communities experience greater impacts from climate change, “particularly in the Arctic and Subarctic regions where changes in climate are occurring more rapidly than elsewhere in the country (Bush and Lemmen, 2019, p.109). What is causing these increased impacts for the north?
To begin unpacking this, one factor I have explored are impacts to the cryosphere (snow, ice, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground), which have not only contributed to increased warming in the north, but also affect the rest of the global climate system. The earth’s climate and average temperature exists in a delicate balance of incoming and outgoing energy called net radiation. In order for the global temperature average to remain the same, the global average net radiation must be close to zero for a year (NASA, earth observatory, n.d). Energy leaves the planet in two ways, either by reflection from clouds, aerosols or the Earth’s surface (which ice plays an integral role in), and the Earth itself through thermal radiation (heat given off by the Earth’s surface and atmosphere). Earth receives energy from both the sun and a process called back-radiation, where greenhouse gases and clouds re-emit energy back down to the earth’s surface and lower parts of the atmosphere (Emmanuel, 2020, p.7), thus causing the earth to warm. CO2 has an important impact on the greenhouse effect as, in comparison to other greenhouse gases such as water vapour which leaves the atmosphere relatively quickly, CO2 stays in the atmosphere for a substantial amount of time (Emmanuel, 2020, p.9). The burning of fossil fuels has caused a massive increase in CO2 in the atmosphere, and over a few hundred years, humans have burned the same amount of fossil fuels that nature created over tens of millions of years (Emmanuel, 2020, p.20). While global warming has had many effects on the earth’s climate, Arctic amplification specifically has impacted the climate in Northern Canada.
Arctic amplification occurs when there are changes to the net radiation balance of the Earth, and is largely caused by melting ice (Turton, 2021) and the loss of Arctic ice albedo. Albedo measures the Earth’s reflectivity – where bright surfaces such as ice and snow reflect more energy from the sun and dark surfaces absorb energy. Diminishing Arctic ice albedo, due to rising temperatures and increased loss of sea ice in the Arctic, are major contributors to warming in Northern Canada. This results in a positive feedback loop where the loss of ice albedo results in less reflectivity, increased absorption of energy from the sun, additional warming, and so on. Among other impacts, Arctic amplification also affects the polar jet stream, a “concentrated pathway of air in the upper atmosphere which drives the weather patterns across the northern hemisphere” and, when weakened, results in extreme weather events in North America, Europe and Asia (Turton, 2021). In the Canadian Arctic, sea ice loss between 1968 – 2016 has been significant, with a 5% – 20% decrease per decade (depending on the region), (Derksen et al, 2019, p.201). As stated in the Canada’s Changing Climate Report, changes to the cryosphere are “in large part a response to increasing surface temperatures”, and changes to individual components of the cryosphere are connected, (Derksen et al, 2019, p.201), resulting in a domino effect. Considering ice albedo’s positive feedback loop and the interconnectedness of the changing Canadian Arctic cryosphere – we can begin to understand the conditions contributing to accelerated warming in Northern Canada.
The 2021 Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues Report makes the case that “decision-making processes related to adaptation programs and policy can be made more effective through greater participation of local residents and organizations, inclusion of local and Indigenous Knowledge” (Voden and Consolo, 2021, p.159). The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), furthers this call for increased decision-making power for communities living in remote areas, specifically in Inuit Nunangat. Within the National Inuit Climate Change Strategy, the ITK emphasizes the importance of allowing those living in Inuit Nunangat to have decision-making power, as they “have critical contributions to make to climate policy and decision-making as rights holders and knowledge-holders first and foremost” and in order for climate actions to be “effective, appropriate, equitable, and sustainable for Inuit Nunangat” they must be in line with the collective “Inuit vision for building the sustainability, prosperity, and well-being” (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, 2021, p.4). As I continue to learn about warming in Northern Canada it is the voices of individuals living in the North that I will seek out, as they have cared for those lands since time immemorial and continue to do so in the face of our rapidly changing climate.
Works Cited
Bush, E., & Lemmen, D. S. (2019). (rep.). Canada’s Changing Climate Report. Ottawa: Government of Canada.
Derksen, C., Burgess, D., Duguay, C., Howell, S., Mudryk, L., Smith, S., Thackeray, C. and Kirchmeier-Young, M. (2019): Changes in snow, ice, and permafrost across Canada; Chapter 5 in Canada’s Changing Climate Report, (ed.) E. Bush and D.S. Lemmen; Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, p.194–260.
Emanuel, K. (2020). Climate Science, Risk & Solutions. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. (2019). (rep.). National Inuit Climate Change Strategy. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
NASA. (n.d.). Net radiation. NASA.https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/global-maps/CERES_NETFLUX_M.
Turton, S. (2021, June 3). Climate explained: Why is the Arctic warming faster than other parts of the world? International Science Council. https://council.science/current/blog/climate-explained-why-is-the-arctic-warming-faster-than-other-parts-of-the-world/.
Vodden, K. and Cunsolo, A. (2021): Rural and Remote Communities; Chapter 3 in Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues Report, (ed.) F.J. Warren and N. Lulham; Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.