Sea levels are already rising. One tends to think of this as a third world development but, between 1969 and 2010, Prince Edward Island lost 20 square kilometers. According to Dr. Adam Fenech, Director of the Climate Lab at the University of Prince Edward Island, close to a thousand PEI homes, 17 lighthouses (one of which is already half in the water) and a number of wind turbines could be lost by 2100. A new webinar from the Science Media Centre of Canada discussed an important factor not included in this calculation. The changing climate makes sea levels rise.
Continue reading Sea Levels Are Already RisingCategory Archives: Cost of Climate Change
Climate Kids Are Suing America
By Roy L Hales
The United States has known that burning fossil fuels destabilizes our climate for over fifty years, but taken few steps to prevent this. Even now, 18 months after President Obama declared “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” the nation does not appear to be ready to switch away from a fossil fuel based energy system. According to Our Children’s Trust, this is discriminating against the rights of the very generations who will experience the worst effects of Climate change. So 21 Climate Kids are suing America.
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Mega-Sized Drought Coming To BC
By Roy L Hales
Though British Columbia’s hydrologists have fifty years of stream flow data to formulate its’ responses to climate change, a recent study from the University of Victoria shows this is not enough. Tree ring data shows that, since 1658 AD, there have been 16 droughts exceeding anything evidenced in the instrumental record. The most recent and severest of these events took place in 1958. According to one of the study co-authors, Bethany Coulthard, “It was a cool time and yet we still saw these extreme natural droughts.” Add problems like urbanization, deforestation and rising Global temperatures into the equation and we can expect a mega-sized drought coming to BC.
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We Are Already Close to 1.5 Degrees
By Roy L Hales
While Canada’s political leaders toy with the idea of expanding the pipeline infrastructure out of Alberta, average global temperatures reached a record high in 2015 and are expected to be even warmer in 2016. According to Dr Kirsten Zickfeld, of Simon Fraser University, “We are already close to 1.5 degrees.”
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The Push for A 1.5 Degree Ceiling
By Roy L Hales
The Guardian‘s headlines say it all. “Biggest Polluters Back Tougher Warming Target.” As EU spokeswoman Carole Dieschebourg said, “We have a difficult week ahead. All the major issues are unresolved.” The United States, China and Canada have joined the push for a 1.5 degree ceiling in Paris.
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