Atlantic Canada

The Greenhouse Effect

Scientists tell us our climate has always changed. So what is it about these changes that are different from other periods in our Earth's history?

To understand what is happening, we need to understand the greenhouse effect. Gases in our atmosphere – including water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – act like a greenhouse to keep the sun's heat in and help make our planet livable.

Without this natural greenhouse effect, the average temperature on earth would be about minus 18 degrees – too cold to support life.

Human Activity Intensifies Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases – or GHGs – can be harmful. As we burn more and more fossil fuels to power our cars, heat our homes and keep our industries humming, we are increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases are thickening the blanket that insulates the Earth, causing average temperatures to rise.

Increased CO2 in the atmosphere and increased temperatures go hand in hand. The concentration of greenhouse gases is now higher than it has been in more than 400,000 years.

GHG Emissions in Canada

In Canada, the majority of our emissions come from the electricity and petroleum industries and the transportation sector. In 1999, we produced 699 MT of GHGs. Electricity and petroleum accounted for 36 per cent of national emissions and transportation accounted for another 25 per cent.

In 1999, Atlantic Canada produced about 50 million tonnes of GHGs – roughly 7% per cent of Canada's total.

Impacts for Atlantic Canada

Studies indicate that the specific impacts of climate change in New Atlantic Canada will be dramatic.

Average summertime temperatures in Atlantic Canada could increase by as much as 3-4° degrees Celsius over the next 80 years. These changes would have enormous impacts on the lives of the people of Atlantic Canada and the ecosystems that support them.

Rising Sea Levels

It is Atlantic Canada's proximity to the ocean and the effects of climate change on the ocean that will have the most impact on the province. As temperatures warm, oceans will expand, causing sea levels to rise. Increases in sea level will vary regionally but, on average, are estimated to be between 0.20 and 0.65 m by 2100.

Greater Floods to Come

Much of the coast of Atlantic Canada is highly sensitive to the effects of sea-level rise. The most sensitive coasts are commonly low-lying, with salt marshes, barrier beaches, and lagoons. They will experience such effects as increased erosion, rapid migration of beaches, and flooding of coastal freshwater marshes.

A higher sea level on the coast will affect wetlands and ecosystems at the edge of the ocean, disrupting the habitat and life cycle of marine life, birds and wildlife in those areas.

Threatened Areas

When a storm hit Yarmouth in February 1976, much of the town was flooded, leaving cars and buses stranded; many buildings were destroyed. Yarmouth, like many other communities on Atlantic Canada, faces worse flooding in the future.

Coastal bluffs are already retreating in Atlantic Canada, sometimes up to 12 m in a single year. The erosion threatening the lighthouse at Pionte Verde, Newfoundland will be more prevalent in the future.

Fisheries

It is expected that as a result of warmer ocean temperatures, there will be shifts in the distribution of fish species and in their migration patterns.

There are also expected to be changes in the ratio of deep sea to ground fish abundance.

There may be lower overall sustainable harvests and estuarine fish populations for Atlantic marine fisheries.

Forestry

More than 58 thousand people are employed directly and indirectly in the forest industry in the four Atlantic provinces.

As part of the Kyoto Protocol, countries can get credit for good forestry practices. Good forestry practices can help decrease greenhouse gases, since trees store some of the carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Healthy forests are important for economic and environmental reasons.

Climate change will increase the risks of forest fires and insect invasion to forests in the Atlantic provinces.

Blowdown may increase with climate change as storms become more frequent and intense. The storm damage at Christmas Mountains, N.B. in 1994 felled 30 million trees and cost $100 million.

Water

If the current warming trend continues, there will be unpredictable break up of ice and more frequent flooding, changing patterns of damage to property, highways, and bridges. This also would force power companies to change management regimes of their reservoirs.

Climate change would alter the ability of the utilities in the Atlantic region to generate hydroelectric power due to changes in precipitation and annual run-off.

Smog and Air Pollution

Hotter summer weather means increased air pollution and the number of 'bad air' days will add additional health risks for city dwellers. The city of St. John is already issuing smog alerts. The frequency of smog alerts could become worse with global warming.

Smog is not just an urban problem. High levels have been found in the Fraser Valley in BC, in southwestern Ontario, along the shores of Lake Huron and in a long belt extending from New Brunswick to western Nova Scotia.

The very old, the very young, people already in poor health and those who live in poor quality housing are the people most likely to suffer from increases in heat-stroke, asthma and other respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases. The steps we are taking as a country to reduce greenhouse gases will also help reduce sources of pollution that contribute to smog.

Costs

Some Canadians say the costs of Kyoto are too high and too many jobs will be lost, damaging our economy.

We don't have the final numbers yet. But we know there will also be opportunities to explore new markets for new technologies. That does not take into account the many new jobs and economic benefits we will realize as we become leaders in the development and export of innovative, emission-reducing, energy efficient technologies.

The real cost issue related to climate change is the cost of not reducing our GHGs – the cost of subsiding infrastructure and eroding coasts; the cost of increasingly violent weather with more storms, more drought, more pestilence and plant disease; the cost of changing habitats on our wildlife and our leisure past-times; the cost of increased air pollution and damage to human health.

The actions we take to fight climate change also lead to cleaner air and more efficient use of energy, fuel, resources and water. Ultimately, we will have healthier, more livable and more sustainable communities.

Climate Change Also Brings Opportunities

Companies such as Shell, BP, IBM, Dupont and Toyota are looking at their businesses in a new way, expecting to increase their market share and profits by factoring sustainable development into their business models. Shell Renewables is investing over US$500 million between 1998 and 2003 to develop commercial opportunities in renewable energy.

There are exciting new business models to help us take advantage of our wealth in natural resources, such as the oil and gas industry, while also treating the environment responsibly.

We Are Making a Difference

Halifax Regional Municipality has become a leader among Canada's large urban areas by adopting an advanced municipal solid waste (MSW) management system that has significantly reduced the amount of waste that goes to landfill.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the municipality's landfill site have been reduced by approximately 0.5 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2E) GHG emissions per year, or about 1.4 tonnes per resident, compared to 1995. These reductions are among many environmental benefits of a system that has helped achieve a 61.5% reduction in the amount of waste per person sent to landfill between 1989 and fiscal year 1999/2000.

In Edmundston, New Brunswick, a cogeneration facility (that produces electricity and usable heat at the same time) at Nexfor Inc.'s wood products plant has reduced fuel costs 75 percent by replacing fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal, with wood waste. In 1998, Nexfor reduced its GHG emissions 23.1 percent from 1990 levels, through energy efficiency projects and by replacing fossil fuels with biomass — energy produced from plant and wood materials.

In Prince Edward Island, eight wind turbines are being built and will soon generate about 75 percent of the federal need for electrical power in that province. The Government of Canada is investing $260 million in wind technology to reduce our dependence on burning fossil fuels.

Want to know more about climate change?

Visit the Government of Canada climate change Web site at www.climatechange.gc.ca or call 1 800 O-Canada (1 800 622-6232, or TTY 1 800 465 7735) toll-free and ask for information about climate change.

Related documents:

Fact Sheets

• Government of Canada Initiatives
• Clean Air
• Fisheries
• Oil, Gas and Coal
• Competitiveness