NRCan adaptation report

Natural Resources Canada has released a new report on the probable impacts of climate change in Canada. Sorted regionally, the report also includes a chapter on Canada’s position in an international context. Overall, the report is pretty comprehensive: covering everything from probable flow changes in Canadian rivers to the possibility that climate change will fuel international armed conflicts.

While the report covers a lot of bases, the final conclusions about what ought to be done seem somewhat vague. Perhaps that is reflective of the degree to which adaptation efforts need to be tuned locally and cannot easily be effectively developed at a national level.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.

12 thoughts on “NRCan adaptation report”

  1. Feds quietly release climate report despite spending $50,000 on PR

    1 day ago

    OTTAWA — The federal government paid $50,000 to a top public relations firm to choreograph the release of a major study on climate change – only to quietly post it online after it was leaked.

    Natural Resources Canada hired Hill and Knowlton last year to craft the unveiling of a study that took years of research and input from more than 140 experts.

    But the department abruptly posted the report on its website late Friday after the CBC revealed its contents the day before.

    Department officials had anticipated a national launch, followed by regional events across the country, said a source speaking on the condition of anonymity.

    “The plan was to launch it with a bit of fanfare.”

  2. # A few of the report’s findingsHumans run the real risk of triggering processes in this century that will inevitably lead to “potentially cataclysmic surprises” in the next;
    # Canadians will experience greater economic and social impacts at the local and regional levels than national or global scale analyses predict;
    # Water quality and quantity will decline on a seasonal basis in every region of Canada. Prairie drought will become the norm.
    # Drought is responsible for 6 of the 10 most costly events in Canadian history. The national 2001-2002 drought cost about $5.8 billion and more than 41,000 jobs;
    # Excluding drought, short-term costs from nine extreme weather events between 1991 and 2005 totalled over $10 billion;
    # Climate-related impacts will create significant challenges for maintaining biodiversity in Canada’s protected areas;
    # We have the knowledge necessary to start undertaking adaptation activities in most situations now.

  3. Where is the link where this report is found on the government website?
    The link is no longer valid.
    Does anyone know?
    Thanks!
    Cory Morningstar

  4. Human Health in a Changing Climate: A Canadian Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptive Capacity – is this one still not published on the government website? Do you know? …
    Thanks!

  5. It still isn’t on the official Health Canada website, which says: “If you would like to order a hardcopy version and/or an interactive CD of the Assessment Report, please contact Health Canada’s Publications.”

  6. I have both reports – I just wasn’t sure if the Health Canada report was ever posted to the government website. I couldn’t locate it – however – I wanted to ask around in case I missed it.
    Thanks for your help!

  7. I don’t think it ever was, and I think this was a case of releasing a report on the Friday before a long weekend, as well. There was a cross-country tour planned for the authors, as well, which got canceled. Or so I’ve heard.

  8. Climate change threatens North’s infrastructure: report

    Last Updated: Thursday, November 26, 2009 | 10:16 AM ET

    Canada’s North is at risk and unprepared to deal effectively with the threat climate change poses to the region’s roads, buildings, waste sites and other other critical infrastructure, according to a federal advisory body.

    In a report released Thursday, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy says the North requires a comprehensive effort to ensure “communities become more ready to adapt to expected climate changes leading to degrading permafrost, melting ice roads, storm surges and coastal erosion.”

    David McLaughlin, the president and CEO of the roundtable, said changes in temperatures in the region could put buildings at risk if they are built on permafrost.

    “They will start to degrade,” he told CBC News. “The foundations will become unstable you’ll get cracks in them. Hospitals and schools all will start to crumble.”

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