Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a critical part of Canada's response to global warming. However, lowering current emission levels will only slow climate change, not stop it.
That's why there's also a need to identify and predict the impacts of climate change and how we're adapting to these changes. It's research that involves a complex mix of scientific insight into how landscapes, plants, animals and people will be affected by these changes—and their ability to adapt to them.
With this in mind, the Government of Canada has identified climate change impacts and adaptations as one of its top priorities for integrated science and technology.
Canada’s Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations Program is a key part of a collaborative approach to the issue. It currently provides funding for more than 100 research projects across the country that are exploring the potential impacts of climate change, and how Canadians and our environment are adapting. These team projects are seeking answers to questions that are critical to Canadians’ future well-being in areas from water, agriculture, forestry and fisheries to coastal zones, transportation and health.
Will some of Western Canada’s largest cities and agricultural regions have adequate water supplies in the coming decades? That’s one of the questions at the heart of the South Saskatchewan River Basin Project, involving scientists from Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada along with university and provincial colleagues.
How will climate change and related sea-level rise affect coastal areas of New Brunswick? The question is the focus of a three-year, $2.5 million study led by Environment Canada, which involves scientists from more than a dozen government and university groups.
Other research projects include the impact of climate change on pests and fire in Canada’s forests, how the melting of permafrost might affect northern transportation, and the health risks of extreme summer heat events in Canada’s cities.
Scientists at the Meteorological Service of Canada’s Adaptation and Impacts Research Group are leading an assessment of national climate change-related natural hazards in a collaborative project also involving Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
It’s a concerted scientific effort to provide Canadians with the information necessary to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the best ways possible.
Science Issues / Climate Change /
Adaptation and Impacts Research (AIR)
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the work of the Meteorological Service of Canada's Adaptation and Impacts Research Group. Access project information, news and more.
Climate Change and Health
Discover how scientists are working to try to understand how climate change could impact our health. Access related resources such as publications and reports.
Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program
Explore a variety of Government of Canada supported research on climate change, including resources such as publications, online posters and fact sheets.
Environment
Discover how Transport Canada addresses climate change through programs that address matters such as fuel consumption and advanced technology vehicles.
EnviroZine - Climate Change
Articles on how climate change is affecting Canada and what you can do to take action.
New Brunswick Sea Level Rise
Access maps, photos and information on the impact of climate change on coastal New Brunswick.
Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative
Find information on climate change impact research from this collaborative project by the Government of Canada and the Prairie provinces.