Climate Changes in Canada

Climate Changes in Canada
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Institution: Introduction
In the recent years the world has woken up to the effect of the climatic changes. As man tries to bring about development, most of the efforts have come with dire consequences. For some time the effects were ignored until Mother Nature came back with revenge. The last three to four decades have seen a rise in the temperatures across the globe, at the same time there are rising tides, biota is experiencing a shift in the natural ecosystems as well as erratic weathers changes leading to natural disasters such floods killing millions and destroying billions worth of property. Of importance is that, the trend is yet to be averted as developing countries and the developed countries are caught in a tussle over who is to blame and who should be repaid for the damage. It is clear that the vast of the damage can be attributed to industrialization and massive developments that are not sustainable in nature, at the same time it is the countries that are not as developed and those that have their natural ecosystems intact that are taking the blunt of the folly.
Canada is one of the countries in the west that highly depends on the natural ecosystem for the better part of its economy. It is no wonder that it is also one of the countries that is feeling the bite on the climatic change (David Suzuki Foundation, 2014). Much of the changes are attributed to the high rate of production of the green house gases, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, wastes and the land use changes that have taken place in the last few decades. Little has been done to bring back the balance in nature that once existed, as more people and industries result to inefficient technologies. A lot still needs to be done other than the use of efficient technology, there should be proper policies in place about the record and reduction of the green house gases as well as adoption of the green economy approach in all the areas of the Canadian people (Ec.gc.ca, 2013). That will not be all as the rest of the global community also needs to be brought to speed about the best practices and ways to mitigate the disaster in waiting. This is a global problem and has to be solving with a global approach. However, it is the duty of Canada as a conscious country to start off the rest of the world and hope they also take note conform to the policies and practices and then make amends.
Canada at the Center of Global Climatic Changes
By the year 2006, the rise in temperatures had been recorded for the 30th year in a row. This increase in temperature was increasingly melting the glaciers and the polar ice, while at the same time raising the water level in the seas and oceans. Much of the evidence point towards a man induced climatic change other than natural variability in the climate patterns. This is a theory that has been backed by most of the credible scientific bodies, such American National Academies, British Royal Society as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change. As is evidence of the ice storm that hit the Canadian eastern coast line in the year 1998, it is well understood the magnitudes that the climatic changes can master. What is surprising is the fact that Canada's population is 0.5% of the world’s population but the country is responsible for more than 2% of the GHG emissions globally. In Hamilton Ontario, the community has taken some bold steps to try and curb the effects that are may wreck havoc in the future. As such they have come up with Hamilton Community Climate Change Action Charter, which is ideally supposed to bring the residents as individuals, organizations, NGOs, teachers, neighboring associates and interested citizens to commit themselves to the a better climate course. Through the charter they can also make their voices heard especially with regard to a way forward.
Canada Warming Up
In the years between 1948 and 2010, Canada has seen a rise in temperatures annually at an average of about 1.6 degrees. This rate is much higher than that of the rest of the world. The worst affected seasons are those of the winter and spring periods, as they rise above the other two. While most of the regions have shown consistent signs of increased temperatures, much of the warming changes are concentrated on the northern regions (Ec.gc.ca, 2013). This increase of temperatures in the north will also be accompanied by other changes in the future, such as ice, now and rain distributions are bound to be affected. It is also expected that there will be extreme weather conditions such as heat waves, flooding from heavy rains, dry spells that lead to drought and increased forest fires. Given that Canada is one of the maritime nations, it is bound to feel the effect of the rise in ocean water, reduced arctic ice and high sea level associated with wave regimes.
More Severe Effects to be felt in Canada
Canada is set to be one of the worst hit by the effects of the climatic changes along with other countries that are further from the equator. This is according to one of the coordinating author and researcher of one of the latest reports on the intergovernmental panel on the aspects of climatic changes. According t the report Canada stands among the top green house gases emitters within the G20 group of countries. More specifically, a report that was complied by the World Resources Institute indicated that by the year 2010, Canada was among the top ten GHG emitters, of the G20 countries after coming in at number 10 (Wingrove & Koring, 2013).
Impacts of climatic changes in Canada
Agriculture and the food security
It is expected that Canada is going to continue warming up in the next six decades and at the same time the temperatures are expected to be higher than those of the global scales. Given that basically the tow main aspects of the climatic changes involve warm places getting warmer and the wet places getting warmer, the effects could be dire (Agr.gc.ca, 2014). With these kind patterns, there will be prolonged droughts and the storms will be more violent. This will lead to decreased corps yield in the long run and the animals and humans are going to have tough time acquiring food. The erratic climatic changes mean that the farmers can no longer predict with precision the patterns of the weather and thus will lead to massive losses associated with poor survival of the plants in the fields. The government will have to spend more on the food imports compromising other sectors.
Massive drought and floods can have negative effects on the yield, leading to more than 50% drop in food production. Farmers rearing animals and birds are also gong to have a rough time ahead. This will not only be related to the fact that there are not enough feeds, but other complications such as heat waves leading to death. This will mean low production of meat and animal products, as even those that survive will be of low weight and quality (Agr.gc.ca, 2014). The cumulative effect of lack of forage is that farmers will be forced to stock fewer animals. At the same time the crop pests and diseases will be on the rise, as well the weeds on the fields. In the end the food production and sufficiency will be a serious problem.
Much of the GHG resulting to about 5% in Ontario comes from agriculture. Ruminant animals on the farms tend to belch and release methane in the air, while at the same time manure does the same as it decomposes. Fossil fuels used by the farm machinery also produce GHG. The government has been keen on the rise of GHG from the 90s and has been advocating for the best practices on the farms.
Forests and their inhabitants
Evidence shows that there are changes in temperatures on the boreal forests on the west of Canada, by more than 2 degrees dating back to 1948 (Johnston & Campagna, 2009). With temperatures this high, the forests are already showing signs of poor regeneration rates as the health of the tree species deteriorates. While some of the tree species have been found to migrate to the higher grounds to match their climatic and ecosystem needs, those on the lower grounds have shown signs of slack in growth (Johnston & Campagna, 2009). With this kind of a trend the productivity of the boreal forests cannot be ascertained in the future. To the effect some of the researchers have started studying the viability helping the trees to migrate to the higher grounds where the climatic conditions are more favorable.
British Columbia has had a chance to feel the impact in the recent years. One of the most destructive pests that affect pines forests has been increasing in numbers in the pine forests (Ec.gc.ca, 2013). The mountain pine beetle thrives rapidly and comfortably ...