• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
‘LET’S SUE BIG OIL’: Legal Team Launches Class Action Campaign for B.C. Municipalities June 17, 2022
‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’, Colleague Says, After Brazil Confirms Murders of Bruno Pereira, Dom Phillips June 17, 2022
Infrastructure Gap a ‘Life and Death’ Matter as Northern Canada Warms June 17, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Jurisdictions Canada

IPCC Cites Fires, Floods, Food Supplies as Biggest Climate Risks for Canada

March 7, 2022
Reading time: 3 minutes

peter_pdp/Instagram

peter_pdp/Instagram

17
SHARES
 

This story includes details on the impacts of climate change that may be difficult for some readers. If you are feeling overwhelmed by this crisis situation here is a list of resources on how to cope with fears and feelings about the scope and pace of the climate crisis.

Wildfires, floods, and threatened food supplies are among the biggest impacts Canadians can expect from the climate emergency, based on the analysis in the “atlas of human suffering” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change unveiled last week in its report on climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.

“It may be difficult to get through all the facts and figures on yet another tome—it’s more than 3,500 pages,” CBC writes. And while the IPCC release included a section on North America, there were precious few segments devoted to Canada.

But “among all the numbers, the report’s message is clear: climate change is already taking its toll on humanity, at a grave cost,” the national broadcaster says. “Some of that’s hard put a dollar figure on, but the concrete costs are already mounting,” and “it could be much worse, depending on the trajectory we take.”

The news story cites the 2016 wildfire known as “The Beast”, which caused C$3 billion insured losses in Fort McMurray, Alberta and packed a monster climate punch of its own. “What’s worse is that the report suggests that places that only experience fire every 400 years will experience them as often as once every 50 years,” CBC writes.

“We’re kind of used to these events being sort of discrete events: there was a flood last year or there was a forest fire three years ago, kind of thing,” said Wilfrid Laurier University environmental studies professor Robert McLeman, a coordinating lead author for the IPCC report chapter on health, well-being, and the changing structure of communities. “Now the risk that’s starting to emerge is that these events start to happen closer together, that they’re more severe when they do occur.”

The more than 80% of Canadians who live in cities may not be at immediate risk from wildfires, CBC says, but they face increasingly frequent and severe storms and other extreme events. Flooding has accounted for 40% of the damage, and the country’s costliest weather-related disaster since 1970 was the 2013 Calgary flood, which left behind $1.8 billion in insurance claims and another $6 billion in uninsured losses.

In the weeks leading up to the IPCC report, a study by the Intact Centre for Climate Adaptation connected flood risk to more intense storms due to a combination of factors, including climate change, loss of natural infrastructure, poor land use planning, over-building of communities, and aging homes and municipal infrastructure.

CBC cites food security as a climate risk that is already confronting Canadian farm and fishing producers, adding that Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to changing ecosystems, reduced supplies of traditional foods, and nutrient loss.

“The reality is that most Canadians, regardless of where they live, have felt the impacts of the climate crisis,” Julia Levin, senior climate and energy program manager at Environmental Defence Canada, told CBC. “That’s been felt most by communities in the North, whose homes are literally falling to the sea, and where food security is already diminishing.”



in Arctic & Antarctica, Canada, Cities & Communities, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, Drought, Famine & Wildfires, Food Security, Health & Safety, International Agencies & Studies, Severe Storms & Flooding, Sub-National Governments

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

pxhere
Environmental Justice

Environmental Racism Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Commons

June 26, 2022
138
Graco/Facebook
Food Security

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 27, 2022
116
stockvault
Health & Safety

Animal Agriculture Could Reduce Future Pandemic Risk, UK Researchers Say

June 26, 2022
73

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
580
Graco/Facebook

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 27, 2022
116
Konrad Summers/Kern West Oil Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Imperial Oil Backs Lithium Recovery Project in Alberta’s Leduc Oilfield

June 26, 2022
97
pxhere

Environmental Racism Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Commons

June 26, 2022
138
stockvault

Animal Agriculture Could Reduce Future Pandemic Risk, UK Researchers Say

June 26, 2022
73
Gustavo Petro Urrego/flickr

Colombia’s President-Elect Has ‘Ambitious’ Plans to Halt Amazon Deforestation

June 26, 2022
67

Recent Posts

Adam E. Moreira/wikimedia commons

Suspend Transit Fares, Not Gas Tax, Climate Advocates Urge Biden

June 26, 2022
55
moerschy / Pixabay

Pandemic Drives Up Support for Climate Action, Pessimism About Elected Leaders

June 26, 2022
27
hellomike/flickr

No Public Input as Canada Finalizes Climate Plan for Airlines

June 27, 2022
37
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Southeast Asia/wikimedia commons

Japan, Korea Sell Vietnam on Gas Amid Crackdown on Climate Activists

June 26, 2022
22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/Barrow_Offshore_Wind_Farm

Global Offshore Wind Pipeline Doubles to 846 Gigawatts

June 26, 2022
38
TAFE SA TONSLEY/Flickr

U.S. Renewables Industries Scramble to Reuse, Recycle Before Waste Volumes Skyrocket

June 26, 2022
63
Next Post
MARIAJONER/Wikimedia Commons

Analysis: From Gas to Renewables to Efficiency, Putin’s War Has EU Scrambling for Energy Independence

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}