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Climate Change Impact & Adaptation Primer
The World Bank reports that:
- “(C)ompared to the 1960s, the frequency of hazardous events that have had a disastrous impact … more than doubled during the 1980s and increased more than threefold in the 1990s; and,
- Losses increased from US$71.1 billion in the 1960s to US$608.5 billion in the 1990s (a nine-fold increase),” (World Bank Reducing Vulnerability: 2000);
- … with annual climate-related damages of $150 billion foreseen within a decade (UNEP).
Recent Extreme Events
There have been three 50-100 year storm events in Nova Scotia during the span of one year: the heavy spring flooding between March 29 and 31, 2003; Hurricane Juan in September 2003, followed by two back-to-back windstorms; and the Great Maritime Blizzard of February 2004. Since 1970, 17 hurricanes and tropical storms have made landfall in Nova Scotia. There have been two direct hurricanes in the last 10 years (Hortense and Juan), and several tropical storms. Most Climatologists are saying that the climate is changing because of global warming, and extreme weather is expected to become more intense and frequent.
The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) was formed in 1996 with the amalgamation of the Cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, the Town of Bedford, and Halifax County. HRM is the capital of the Province of Nova Scotia, and the province’s largest municipality representing approximately 40% of the population, or about 360,000. Because of its size, HRM houses significant municipal and regional public utility, and health infrastructure under the auspices of the Capital District Health Authority (CDHA). It is anticipated that this infrastructure is becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change extreme weather events.
Global Climate Change & Extreme Weather Threat
According to the International Red Cross, there was an increase from 500,000 to 5.5 million environmental disaster victims over a 6 year period. Thus, in the first 9 months of 2002 there were an estimated 526 major natural disasters.
The impacts of severe weather, such as flooding, power interruptions, the loss of public services, threats to personal safety, and risks to public health will negatively effect the Province’s population, and its economy.
The reality of climate change is that even a modest sea-level rise “would threaten the coastal settlements in which half of humanity lives” (Earthscan Reader 1999: 75).
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