Reports

This Plan is the third of three municipal plans which work together to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. The first step was the completion of the Official Community Plan and the second was the completion of the Climate Action Plan. They lay the foundation and contains strategies for community and municipal climate action to 2020 and beyond. The final step was the development of this Climate Change Adaptation Plan that will prepare the community and operations for the anticipated climate changes in the district. While the Official Community Plan provides overall guidance for community development, and climate related policies are implemented through the two climate action plans, all three of these plans are needed to properly respond to this challenge and provide a longlasting foundation for climate change resiliency in the municipality.

The Whitehorse Community Adaptation Project, or WhiteCAP, begins the process of preparing Whitehorse for climate change. WhiteCAP consists of two distinct phases: planning and implementation. The WhiteCAP plan assesses how climate change may positively or negatively affect the community over the next forty years, to 2050. The first half of the planning process focuses on exploring multiple scenarios of how the community may change by 2050. The second half assesses the risks of climate change impacts and then the priorities of climate change adaptations.

This report, from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) summarizes for 18 regions, the observed climate trends to date and some climate related factors. Projections are then given to 2050 of these key climate and climate-related factors. These related factors emphasize events or trends which result in hardship or damages or benefits, and are often felt most strongly in communities. An emphasis has been placed on extreme events when data and projections were available, since they often cause the largest damages and human disruptions.

The 2010 EarthCare Sudbury Action Plan - Becoming a Sustainable Community, builds on the foundation established by Greater Sudbury's former Local Action Plan, and reflects the progress our community has made since its release in 2003.

This report aims to integrate relevant existing scientific climate change data and adaptation processes with community knowledge of climate change, in order to develop new tools that incorporates climate change concerns in community planning initiatives. Community engagement is a central component of the project team's approach, and the project relies heavily on existing community knowledge and understanding of climate related events.

Toronto has responded to the need to address climate change through the Climate Change, Clean Air and Sustainable Energy Action Plan. The development and establishment of a climate change adaptation strategy is one of the actions contained in the Climate Change Action Plan. This document presents an action-oriented framework that is designed to help members of the public and other stakeholders engage in the process of designing and implementing a climate change adaptation strategy for Toronto.

This document discusses current and future risks and opportunities that climate change presents to Canada, with a focus on human and managed systems. The assessment highlights key issues facing each region of the country in a policy-relevant manner.

This report presents the results of the climate change adaptation strategy project. It includes projected climate scenarios for Fredericton, a summary of potential risks and adaptative measures based on the experiences of other jurisdictions, and a summary of Fredericton's stakeholders concerns and suggested approaches to climate change adaptation.

Northeastern Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, is one of Canada's most sensitive coasts. It is a region that is subject to high tides and frequent extreme storm events, which produce ongoing erosion of 1 to 3 metres per year. This study is examining the potential physical, socio-economic, and cultural impacts of climate change on this coastal area. Enhanced sea-level rise from a warming climate could increase the vulnerability of community infrastructure, cultural sites, the tourism industry, and sensitive ecological areas.

Halifax's Climate SMART  (Sustainable Mitigation and Adaptation Risk Toolkit) initiative has an overall objective of mainstreaming climate change into municipal decision making and incorporation of climate change risk management and adaptation in future corporate business unit plans. One of the key deliverables of Climate SMART is the development of a climate change risk management strategy. This strategy provides Halifax decision makers with an approach to minimize risks from climate change. These adaptation measures can take many forms including planning tools, design tools, legal tools, infrastructure changes, and changes in behavioral patterns.

Salluit, located in northern Quebec, has a rapidly expanding population that requires new housing and municipal development. Being located in the bottom of a valley along a fjord, on ice rich soils, there is little space for new expansion. Inland in the valley, a landslide that took place in 1999 has put a stop to development. The problem is made more complex by the fact that the area is affected by rapid climate warming since 1995. Permafrost temperature has gone up by about 1.5 °C, from -6.5 °C to -5.0 °C, and the active layer depth has increased by about 150%. The increase in temperature has a huge impact on the bearing capacity of the soils which, therefore, limit the spatial expansion of the village.

The Corporation of Delta and Tsawwassen First Nations Reserve are located on the coast of the Fraser River delta adjacent to Roberts Bank. The Roberts Bank tidal flats are host to important fish and bird habitats as well as major economic infrastructure such as the Deltaport and Tsawwassen ferry terminal. The natural response of Delta's shoreline to rising sea level would be for it to migrate inland, but because the coastline is dyked, the tidal flats are likely to shrink. In other words, most tidal flat zones, including present areas of marshland, will likely be more frequently flooded by water and more frequently subjected to wave attack.

Currently the greater Calgary area (Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Bragg Creek) relies solely on water supply from the Elbow and Bow Rivers. However, current climate change models predict river discharge in the future will drop due to decreased precipitation and decreased glacial coverage in the headwaters of the basin. As the city would likely have to share water shortages with other major users (industry, agriculture), this places a high degree of uncertainty on the upper limit of population that can be supported solely on the river system.