Keyword Adaptation

Winter is central to the Canadian prairie identity. It’s the defining season for a people whose common enemy is also their strength. The long cold snowy winter is also important to economies and ecosystems. And that winter is changing. Set to the backdrop of the Nestaweya River Trail, one of Canada’s longest skating trails, resilient settlers and newcomers alike talk about adapting to a world where the joys of the season are shrinking and what that will mean for future generations.

Owning over half of the aging public infrastructure in Canada, municipalities are facing some of the biggest challenges they’ve ever seen as a result of climate change. Creating plans to adapt to climate impacts is complex and uncharted territory for many municipal staff, councillors, residents, and community leaders. In this video, urban, rural, and Indigenous communities in the Prairies share their unique approaches, successes, and lessons learned in prioritizing risks and preparing for the changes to come.

Wind-swept, remote, and jaw-droppingly beautiful. These are Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine. A narrow archipelago, surrounded on all sides by the unpredictable waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence, the islands are home to just under 13,000 souls who live mainly from fishing and tourism. Like many small islands around the globe, the consequences of climate change are altering life here dramatically. Islanders are coming together to grapple with this reality and find local solutions, and are asking hard questions about the future.

When the three hottest months of the high-sun season roll around, many Canadians are used to dealing with pests - be it those pesky mosquitoes when working out in the yard or sticky ticks when walking in the forest. But in a warming world, these pests are becoming more than just a nuisance for Canadians.

Lyme disease is on the rise in Canada, due in part to climate change. Warming temperatures are allowing blacklegged ticks - the species that can carry Lyme disease in central and eastern Canada - to move into new territories. Hear from the scientists, medical professionals, and citizens on the front lines of this infectious disease issue, and how we can prepare and protect our families and communities from this risk.

Cities, towns, and municipalities are on the frontlines of dealing with climate change and need tools to adapt. The City of Selkirk, just north of Winnipeg, is a national leader in climate change adaptation, and has developed a long-term strategy to assess risks facing the community and how to respond. Developed through a collaborative planning process with the Prairie Climate Centre, Selkirk shows that solutions are within our grasp provided that applied planning and a commitment to action go hand in hand.

In August 2018, British Columbia declared a provincial state of emergency due to forest fires. At its peak, there were over 560 wildfires burning in the province. The smoke from the fires travelled thousands of kilometres, causing air quality warnings to be issued across BC, Alberta, and as far away as southern Manitoba.[1]

Many Canadians welcome the arrival of hot summer days as respite from our long, cold winters. Understandably, we tend to think of more summer heat as a good thing. But too much heat can be dangerous.

Heat waves in cities are expected to be more frequent and intense under climate change. The City of Montreal is tackling urban heat islands head-on through city greening initiatives, in collaboration with Ouranos, a climate change research consortium.

Warmer temperatures could bring some benefits to farming in Canada, but climate change will also likely lead to new risks that farmers haven’t seen before. Anne Blondlot of Ouranos breaks down some of the key changes the agricultural community could be facing.