CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN CANADA

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CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN CANADA

• Yesmelin Davis
• Daryl Lee
• Efrain Santana
• Marta Walinska

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Arctic ice and temperature change

• Sea ice in Canada's Arctic and sub-Arctic regions
  has been melting rapidly over the past three
  decades
• If thinning continues at its current rate, by
  2050 the Arctic Ocean could be completely
  ice-free in summer
• Environmental monitoring shows that the Arctic is
  warming at a rate that is unprecedented over the
  past 400 years. The average annual temperature at
  Resolute Baya meteorological station in the
  Arctic archipelagohas increased by 1.3C since
  1969
• On August 13 2005, a huge section of the isle Ice
  Shelf broke off into the Arctic Ocean. The ice
  island is approximately 66 square kilometers in
  size, roughly the size of 11,000 football fields.

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The Effect of Global Warming on Canadas
Freshwater Supply

• Climate warming will adversely affect Canadian
  water quantity and water quality.
• The magnitude and timing of river flows and lake
  levels and water renewal times will change.
• Water is rapidly becoming blue gold because
  acute water problems in the United States and
  other parts of the world will threaten Canadian
  water security due to the growth of human
  populations, industries and global warming.
• In poorly buffered lakes and streams, climate
  warming will exacerbate the effects of acid
  precipitation
• Decreases in dissolved organic carbon caused by
  climate warming and acidification will cause
  increased penetration of ultraviolet radiation in
  freshwaters
• Increasing industrial, agriculture and human
  populations will require more sophisticated and
  costly water and sewage treatment (Schindler
  2001)

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Pine Beetles and Climate Change

• Due to the warming climate, an insect known as
  the Pine Beetle has and continues to grow,
  destroying the pine population in Canadas green
  pine forest
• The usually severe winters of 20 degrees below
  zero that controlled the population of these
  beetles, has not occurred for more than a decade
• This beetles natural and permanent habitat is in
  the warmer climate of Arizona, but the beetles
  favorite pine trees is in Canada where the lodge
  pole pine tree thrives. (Struck2)
• Some initiatives are already taking place
• 1)New Trees are being planted (although in some
  areas these trees can take up to 70 years to
  grow)
• 2) A new breed of tree is being developed to
  withstand warmer temperature (Markusoff
• 3) Companies like Pherotech Inc are creating new
  pest managements to destroy insects like these
  beetles that are rapidly growing because of the
  warming climate

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The pine beetle has infested an area three times
the size of Maryland (Struck 1)
The Pine Beetle
From this climate to this one
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Economic Impact of Climate Variability

• Two ways to deal with the negative impact of
  climate change
• Mitigation acting to slow down the warming
  trend by reducing the greenhouse gas (GHS)
  emissions
• Adaptation taking action to minimize the
  negative impact of climate change
• Today most of Canadas domestic actions on
  climate change have focused on mitigation

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