Flooding « Transition Brockville

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Tag : Flooding (38)

‘Depaving’ project carves green space out of Ottawa street

CBC News / Krystalle Ramlakhan / 06 October 2019

Yesterday morning, volunteers removed asphalt by hand “as much as possible,” said Jen Stelzer, manager of community sustainability programs with Ottawa non-profit EnviroCentre, which helped co-ordinate the project.

“A lot of the time, these big community projects can sort of just happen behind the scenes. But in this case, we actually have scored all of this asphalt … and we’ll be using pry bars to lift it out by hand. And the community will come together and really experience that many hands make light work,” Stelzer said.

“It really brings ownership back [to] the spaces in our environment.”

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Record-high Great Lakes water levels the ‘evolving normal’

The Energy Mix / Jeremiah Rodriguez / 20 August 2019

“The flooding this spring and summer along the northern shores of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands, and some Toronto-area beaches has been particularly troublesome for homeowners and businesses,” CTV states. “According to government statistics, July water levels for the bodies of water between Canada and the U.S. were at record highs. And this can lead to faster erosion of the coastline and flooding.”

Feltmate, head of UW’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, cited climate change as one of two factors “disproportionately” affecting Great Lakes water levels. “Number one is climate change-induced. We’re getting more water coming down over shorter periods of time more frequently,” he told CTV. The other factor is that “we’ve removed 72 to 73% of the natural infrastructure of forest fields and wetlands, which gives water a place to go when it falls.” So “now, when the big storms hit, the water goes very quickly into the Great Lakes.”

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Premiers push Ottawa for lead on local climate change strategy

NWT News/North / Nick Pearce / 14 July 2019

“Climate change is a global threat, with immediate and long-lasting, tangible impacts on the natural environment, public health and safety, as well as on infrastructure and the economy,” they stated. The comments were released on the second day of the Council of the Federation, a meeting of premiers in Saskatoon.

“Some of the changes are so significant we see it as an important job for us to educate people in the south that their actions are having a big effect on us,” [NWT Premier Bob] McLeod said told reporters Thursday.

The premiers also said their jurisdictions required “Full credit” for reduction of emissions, and federal funding to support climate change strategies as wildfires and floods become more common.

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Ready Set Rain Strategy

Green Communities Canada / April 2019

The Ready Set Rain Strategy was developed by Green Communities Canada with input from stakeholders from across the province. It maps out a vision for flood-resilient Ontario communities, along with ideas for moving more communities towards this vision. Thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting this project.

[ FULL REPORT ]

A ‘new abnormal’ — megafires explode with off-the-charts fury

National Observer / Barry Saxifrage / 29 November 29 2018

Author’s note: The size and destruction of the Camp Fire grew significantly since this article was originally published. Now that this record-breaking fire has been fully contained, I’ve updated the charts and article to show its shocking “off-the-charts” scale.

California is on the burning edge of climate breakdown. Record-breaking drought and heat have turned the Golden State into a tinderbox. The megafires have followed. In the last two years a string of off-the-chart wildfires have exploded with stunning speed and ferocity across forests, grasslands, rural areas and city neighborhoods. California Governor Jerry Brown has called it “the new abnormal.”

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Municipalities must improve climate change adaptation planning

Waterloo Region Record / James Jackson / 13 November 2018

Mitigation may no longer be enough to prevent climate change impacts from occurring. A UN report released last month found global emissions must drop by 45 per cent before 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2075 to avoid surpassing the 1.5 C threshold in global temperatures.

Adaptation to climate change varies, but it can include: building flood defences and raising dykes; placing a moratorium on new construction in flood-prone areas; and choosing tree or plant species that are more drought-resistant.

“The gap in adaptation planning is concerning, because cities are more exposed to climate change risk than other levels of government due to high concentrations of people, property, and infrastructure,” [researcher Dave] Guyadeen’s study found.

His analysis also says implementation, monitoring and evaluation is relatively weak in Canada, and that many municipalities haven’t put enough emphasis on stakeholder engagement. Only one province — Nova Scotia — has mandated municipalities to create climate change plans.

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

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