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Climate Change
Implications
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Climate change impacts - health
Heat-related illness: heat waves are predicted to occur more frequently, especially in
urban areas; 1951-1980 - Victoria - 3 days/year > 300C; hot days are expected to
quadruple in 21st century to 13 days/year; even more hot days in Lower Mainland and
Interior; heat stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular and respiratory illness expected to
increase
Respiratory illness: heavy emissions from cars
and factories contribute to smog, especially
a problem for Lower Mainland; ozone, part
of smog, can cause respiratory irritation
leading to asthma or chronic lung disease;
with warmer temperatures conditions for
smog occur quicker
Water contamination: sea-level rise will inundate
groundwater systems in low-lying coastal areas with
saltwater, chemicals, and disease organisms; extreme
precipitation events may strain municipal drainage and
sewage systems and increase risk of contamination;
summer water shortages may exacerbate water quality
problems by increasing concentration of contaminants
Climate change impacts - health
Water-borne disease: increase in precipitation will lead to
more runoff and flooding; may increase transmission of
parasites from other animals to humans through the water
system, e.g. beaver fever; sea surface temperature increase
can contribute to survival of pathogens, e.g. red tide
Vector-borne disease: animals, birds, and insects can carry
human diseases; warmer temperatures may enable vectors to
extend their ranges, e.g. hantavirus, west nile virus
Weather-related accidents: increase in precipitation, flooding,
landslides, and extreme weather-related events; may increase
incidence of accident-related injuries and deaths; reduced winter
snowfall may decrease potential for accidents (fewer avalanches)
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Climate change impacts - health
Climate change impacts - agriculture
Interior B.C.: year-round warmer, wetter springs & drier summers; could lead vineyards/
orchards to spread north; severe winter cold reduced; but: drier, warmer summer
climate will increase drought
Coastal B.C.: year-round warmer and drier summers and falls will benefit agriculture in
Lower Mainland; but: warmer winters may increase insect pests and wetter spring might
delay planting
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Climate change impacts - agriculture
Growing Degree Days (GDD) trends in
B.C. show no trends in some areas, but
other areas have seen an increase of
around 15%.
GDD is an indicator that measures
changes in the amount of heat energy
available for plant growth. Plants and
invertebrates require a certain amount of
heat to develop from one stage in their
life to the next.
Change in Average Annual GDD (% per century)
GDD is calculated as the difference
between average daily temperature and
50C (on a day with 120C average temp,
GDD is 7). Annual GDD is then the sum
of GDD of every day over 50C in a year.
Climate change impacts - agriculture
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Climate change impacts - forests
In the Interior with an decrease of
effective soil moisture grasslands will
expand into forests.
In the mountains treeline will migrate
upwards and invade meadows.
Forests in the Interior experience
drought conditions and pest infestations;
will destroy parts of the forests.
The dead trees will provide fuel for large
scale forest fires.
Will impact forestry in the Interior.
Climate change impacts - forests
1990s-2000s: warmest period
on record; interior BC
experiences warm winters and
hot dry summers; biggest pine
beetle infestation, pine diebacks,
and wildfires
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Climate change impacts - water resources
Climate change impacts - water resources
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Climate change impacts - water resources
Change in Timing of 1/3 of Fraser River Annual Flow,
1912-1998
River run-off is determined in large
part by snowmelt in B.C., which
occurs earlier in the season now
and leaves an extended low-flow
period in late summer.
Climate change impacts - water resources
Helm Glacier,
Garibaldi Park
Bear Glacier,
near Stewart
Sawyer Glacier,
Glacier Bay
1928/29
1996
2004
2002
2004
2005
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Climate change impacts - water resources
1978
2000
Glaciers in the tropical Andes: La Paz - Zongo Glacier
75% of electric power from hydropower plants in the Zongo Valley
During dry season (April - Nov [monthly precip: 10 - 40 mm) Zongo Glacier
provides 50 to 120 l/s of water.
Climate change impacts - coastal areas
Shores formed of loose, easily eroded sediments
may shift inland leading to loss of land (sea cliffs at
UBC campus).
Flood deltas, tidal marshes & other low-lying coastal
areas might be inundated; provide unique and
important habitats for waterfowl.
Dykes might have to be built or upgraded to protect
these areas.
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Climate change impacts - coastal areas
Change in Average Sea Level, 1909-1999
(cm per century)
Change in Sea Surface Temperature,
1914-2001, (0C per century)
Sea-level rise:
increase of sealeave even
though land is
still rising from
last ice age;
decrease in
Tofino has to do
with subduction
Sea surface temperatures: increase of 1-20C
many organisms in the ocean are sensitive to changes
in water temperature
higher sea surface temperatures are linked to changes
in salmon distribution and migration patterns leading
to potential declines in reproductive success
Distribution changes of sockeye salmon
Climate change impacts - habitats
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Climate change impacts - habitats
1928/29
2002
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Climate change impacts - the next Ice Age
Present global warming will
prevent the next ice age for
some time, but eventually
the next one will come.
In previous Ice Ages the
province was completely
covered by thick icesheet.
The impact of the next ice
age will affect the whole
province and people will
have to move South as the
whole country will face the
same problem.
Humankind, just like every
other organism, is able to
live in an ecological niche,
which in our case is quite
big, but there are limits.
Climate change impacts - summary
Climate Change - Global Warming
Temperature in Canada is expected to rise by 1 to 40C during the next 100 years, which
will lead to impacts on:
Health: heat-related, respiratory, water contamination, water- & vector-borne diseases,
weather-related accidents
Agriculture: overall increase in drought conditions in southern Prairies will have
negative impact; northern Prairies might overall benefit
Forest: forest compositions and distributions are changing with upward and northward
movement; grasslands take over in dry areas; increase of large forest fires
Water resources: shrinking glaciers and decrease of snowpack will lead to water
shortage in many areas impacting Hydro, agriculture, recreation, salmon runs, etc.
Coastal areas: rising sea-levels will impact only limited parts of the coast, unfortunately
especially populated areas; increase in sea-surface impacts salmon distribution
Habitats: impact will be felt in the high mountains all the way to valley bottoms
Climate Change - The Next Ice Age
Next Ice Age will cover most of Canada and pose the biggest problem in the long-term.
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Ten things to do
Want to do something to help stop global warming?
Here are 10 simple things you can do and how much carbon dioxide you’ll save doing
them.
change a light: Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light will
save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
drive less: Walk, bike, carpool or take metro transit more often. You’ll save one pound
of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive!
recycle more: You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just
half of your household waste.
check your tires: Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more
than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the
atmosphere.
use less hot water: It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by
installing a low-flow showehead (350 pounds of CO 2 saved per year) and washing your
clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).
avoid products with a lot of packaging: You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon
dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
adjust your thermostat: Moving your thermostat down just 2 degrees in winter and
up 2 degrees in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
plant a tree: A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
turn off electronic devices: Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo,
and computer when you’re not using them will save thousands of pounds of carbon
dioxide per year.
be a part of the solution: Learn more and get active at ClimateCrisis.net
What you can do to lessen Global Warming
Some websites to get information on climate change
These are good websites to get started. There are further links on each of them, and more
information can easily be found on the internet.
• h t t p://www.ec.gc.ca/eco/wycd/climate_e.html
•
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/
•
http://www.nativeenergy.com/
•
http://www.offsetters.com/
•
http://www.earthday.net/resources/2006materials/Top10.aspx
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Climate Change - What we can do!
Climate Change - What we can do!
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Climate Change - What we can do!
Climate Change - What we can do!
• 
Ocean fertilization
–  Burning of fossil fuel has increased
CO2 in the atmosphere from an
average of 180-280 ppm for the past
~650,000 years to currently 370
ppm
–  Phytoplankton can effectively
remove CO2 from the atmosphere
and partially store it longterm in
deep ocean
–  Some areas in ocean have high
concentration of nitrate and
phosphate, but not much
phytoplankton (high nitrate low
chlorophyll a regions [HNLC]); they
seem to have very low
concentrations of iron
–  Iron fertilization; fertilized patch can
grow big enough for satellites to see
–  Not clear if it effectively removes
carbon dioxide for long time
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Climate Change - What we can do!
• 
Implications of sea-level change
–  Construction of dams to store water on land
•  Leads to less sand reaching delta; increased erosion
•  Loading of water depresses the crust
•  Problems associated with dams (relocations, loss of land,
earthquakes)
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