Climate challenges for a small town in Nova Scotia

Cape Breton Post (Nova Scotia): A study by the Ecology Action Centre is looking at the threat to the coastal community of Cheticamp from rising sea levels and storm surges caused by climate change. Veronika Brzeski, the centre’s climate change adaptation co-ordinator, said while the study has not been finished, there are significant implications for the shoreline around the northern Cape Breton community.

“Certainly sea level rise is a concern,” Brzeski said Wednesday. The Nova Scotia government has published projections for a sea level rise of 1.1 metres by the year 2100 and possible storm surges of 3.78 metres for the area. The study uses the estimates enhanced by 3-D mapping. “We can actually see what is going to be flooded, what is the scenario for the future,” she said.

Flooding scenarios include a breach of the causeway and beach connecting Cheticamp Island to the mainland and the risk of flooding for the local boardwalk and downtown area. “Certainly some of that water would recede but there is a lot of storm damage.”

Brzeski noted hurricanes like Sandy, which hit the northeastern United States in October, can happen at any time. Shoreline erosion is another concern throughout the whole community, she said.\ “There are danger zones already along roads.” Brzeski said it’s hard to predict erosion, which can be affected by everything from the amount of rock in the soil to ice cover and weather....

The port in Cheticamp, shot by Ericbodden, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Playing out future flooding scenarios

Sandor Gyarmati in the Delta Optimist (British Columbia): A new video game being developed at UBC will give Delta students the chance to become city planners dealing with the implications of global warming and a rising sea level.

Future Delta 2.0 is a video game project led by Dr. Stephen Sheppard at UBC and Dr. Aleksandra Dulic of UBC-Okanagan. Having elements similar the interactive city-building game Sim City, the game will enable players to become city planners dealing with the implications of global warming and sea level rise.

"The video game is initially, at least, for high school kids," said Sheppard, director of UBC's Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning (CALP). "Working with some schools in Delta, it's very early in the life of this project. We were funded to work on a climate change video game that was to be a place-based game in Delta, so Delta people and Delta school kids would play the game and they would see places they know and recognize.

"It would also deal with other kinds of issues, including sea level rise and its effects on farming, and also how people respond in terms of community energy and renewable energy, cutting their carbon footprints and what their community would look like. It's to be a fun game that's educational for students who are studying climate change in their curriculum and in sciences classes. It would make it meaningful for them but also fun," he explained....

A blue heron in Vancouver, shot by Eugene Sit, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Global warming a culprit in growth of water-damage insurance claims

Tracy Sherlock in the Vancouver Sun: ...Water damage has overtaken fire damage for insurance claims, and that trend looks to continue as king tides, warming oceans and more intense storms multiply the effects of sea level rise. “We don’t get hurricanes quite like Sandy in B.C., but you do get heavy winter storms with big winds and they blow a lot of water,” said Gordon McBean, professor at Western University in London, Ont., and director for research at the centre for environment and sustainability.

“When the wind is blowing, it takes a hold of water and pushes the water toward the land. Once it hits the land, it can’t go anywhere, so it piles up and you create a storm surge, which can push the water up to quite high levels, metres above the standard level, and that’s what happened in New York with Sandy.” In the U.S., damage from floods is covered by insurance; in Canada it is not.

Patricia Stirling, director for underwriting at BCAA, said flood damage — from a tsunami, for example — is never covered. However, a sewer backup that occurs as a result of a flood might be covered. And water damage from a plugged toilet or broken water tank is usually covered. But still, the amount of money paid out by insurance agencies for water damage is growing quickly....

Canada invests in climate change solutions in developing countries

Canada Newswire: Today, the Honourable Peter Kent, Canada's Environment Minister, announced a number of key initiatives to support climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in developing countries.

"Canada continues to deliver on its commitment to support developing countries in their efforts to address climate change," said Minister Kent. "Canadian fast-start financing is providing concrete help for some of the most vulnerable countries and is reducing greenhouse gas emissions through investments in climate-friendly growth."

Some of the funding from the third wave of the Canadian contribution will support: 

• $75 million to support the Catalyst Fund, managed by the International Finance Corporation. The Fund will invest in venture capital and private equity in developing countries, with a focus on sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, water, agriculture, and forestry.
• $76 million to the Asian Development Bank to establish a Canadian Climate Fund for the private sector in Asia. The Fund will encourage private investment in climate change projects in 33 low and lower-middle income countries and small island states within Asia. These funds will be invested in projects related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and infrastructure, and climate resilience.
• $16.5 million to the United Nations Development Programme for adaptation projects in least developed countries.

The investment is part of Canada's fast-start financing commitment under the Copenhagen Accord to provide $1.2 billion in new and additional financing to support climate change action in developing countries….

Infrastructure has to adapt to climate change: Canadian Construction Association

Kelly LaPointe in the Daily Commercial News (Canada): Canada’s infrastructure challenge is not just dealing with aging roads and bridges, but preparing infrastructure to withstand climate change as well. “That one in 100 year storm...it’s not coming one in 100 now, it’s one in every 50 and they’re more severe so as a result there’s been many more instances where weather has overpowered the existing infrastructure,” said Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association (CCA).

“Climate change adaptation. There’s no question that that will be a major theme of infrastructure strategy and planning in Canada going forward.”

This was just one of the examples of the importance of a federal long-term infrastructure plan by the Municipal Infrastructure Forum at a recent press conference stressing the need for sustained long-term infrastructure funding once the current Building Canada Plan expires in 2014.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) started the Forum in February 2012 in partnership with key infrastructure stakeholder groups from across the country to ensure that the right plan is developed for the entire country. Robert Tremblay, director of research for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, pointed out that Superstorm Sandy is expected to generate insured losses in the $20 billion range for the U.S. Eastern Seaboard....

Montreal's Victorian Bridge, shot by douaireg, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license