Climate Change

Canada’s climate is drastically changing due to increased carbon emissions resulting from industrialization, human activity, and a modern world reliance on fossil fuels. Climate change causes a rise in air and ocean temperatures, precipitation fluctuations, melting ice, as well as rising sea levels. The effects of climate change will be observed in communities around the country but will vary region to region.

The Northern Coast of Canada makes up 176, 000 km of the country’s coastline, which is over 70% of its’ total length. Canada’s Northern Coast region is experiencing the effects of climate change more intensely than other parts of the country since sea ice and permafrost are a big influence on northern communities and the livelihood of the coast.

Northern communities heavily depend on glaciers, land ice and ice roads for their livelihoods. With ice melt and sea level rise, these communities will lose land, biodiversity, food, and water – leading to a need to retreat from their homes. As the climate continues to change- ocean acidification, erosion, flooding, and extreme weather events will be more common, altering the land and ocean environment. These changes will put Canada’s coastal communities most at risk.

Coastal communities must prepare and plan ways to reduce their risk to climate change impacts. There are various approaches to reduce and adapt to a changing climate. However, there needs to be active participation on all levels including individual, government and community. Retrofitting to make buildings energy efficient, switching to renewable energy, choosing sustainable transportation, creating walkable communities, or supporting legislative changes like carbon taxing- are all examples of adaption strategies that can be implemented. As communities we must work together and collaborate on climate change adaptation strategies to better help and protect the communities most at risk.