CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Corner Brook weather could look more like St. John's, with an increase in precipitation over the course of the 21st century.
That was just one of the interesting revelations provided in a climate change workshop held at the Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook this week.
The Canadian Forest Service hosted the workshop, held over two days on Wednesday and Thursday, which focused on climate change impact and adaptation in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Guest speakers gave presentations on a variety of subjects, looking at both the science behind climate change and the ecological and socioeconomic impacts it will have on a local and provincial scale.
One of the objectives of the workshop was to gather information from people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives and facilitate collaboration.
“We need those different perspectives, those different backgrounds, those different knowledge bases to really develop meaningful adaptation when it comes to climate change,” Joe Bowden, a research scientist at the Atlantic Forestry Centre in Corner Brook, said during the workshop's introductory address. “More diverse groups of teams solve complex challenges much more efficiently and there’s no greater challenge than climate change.”
According to Bowden, the workshop sought for attendants to ask themselves about the issues facing them; what is needed to adapt to climate change in their region or community; and what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential strengths in their sector, region, or community.
Bowden and Canadian Forest Service GeoInformatics Analyst Doug Piercey also shared their findings from the Assessing Climate Change in Ecological and Social Systems in Newfoundland and Labrador (ACCESS-NL) research project, which examines potential climate change impacts and provides knowledge to guide stakeholders and decision-makers.
Joel Finnis, a geography professor at Memorial University in St. John’s, led the session on Wednesday with a presentation on climate change science and projections for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Finnis’ presentation included information on the modelling involved in projecting impacts within the province as well as the shortcomings of those models.
Precipitation and temperature change, for example, is easier to project than high winds, heavy snow events or sea-level rise.
The models show greater temperature and changes in precipitation for Labrador than for the island of Newfoundland.
While Corner Brook weather may look more like St. John's, Finnis also said the Labrador coast could look more like Deer Lake.
But wind is less easy to quantify.
“People often ask about what climate change will do with high winds,” said Finnis, who presented from St. John’s via teleconference. “We don’t have a clean answer for that. We’re only starting to get to a point where we can find ways to ask those questions systematically.”
Finnis also suggested there will, in fact, probably be fewer weather bombs, such as the “Snowmageddon” that hit eastern Newfoundland in January.
What is more probable is an increasing number of snow, followed by rain, events due to rising temperatures. This creates a whole other host of problems for municipal infrastructure and private property, particularly around flooding.
On day two of the session, a panel discussion focused on how municipalities are dealing with climate change.
Douglas Howse, manager of environmental public health at the Department of Health and Community Services, opened the panel discussing the impact of climate change on human health.
Howse’s presentation focused on how extreme weather events, extreme heat, air quality and vector-borne illness (disease caused by insects) can affect human health and how municipalities can respond to these challenges.
City of Corner Brook director of community, engineering, development and planning Darren Charters and Town of Portugal Cove-St. Phillip’s climate change coordinator Piers Evans followed up with presentations on what their respective municipalities are doing to adapt to climate change.
The fourth and final speaker, Grenfell Campus environmental studies professor Kelly Vodden, focused on the unique challenges faced by more rural and remote municipalities.
