We can all play our part in solving climate change.
Climate change is already affecting our physical and mental health
The climate crisis is alreadyharming the most vulnerable in our society: the working poor, seniors, and single mothers to name a few who have fewer social and financial resources to protect themselves from extreme events like heat waves or floods. We all know someone affected by spring and winter flooding on the St. John River, or storm surges and erosion on our coasts. Heatwaves from Bathurst to St. Andrews are harming our health and crops. Power outages in winter and summer put our safety and food at risk.
Extreme weather in New Brunswick
From the recent record-breaking flooding along the St. John River, the 2017 Ice Storm, Hurricanes Arthur and Dorian, to the heat waves, drought and low river levels we’re seeing in the summer,we feel the effects of climate change in our communities.
You can read about the impact extreme weather is having on New Brunswickers’ physical and mental health in our 2019 series,After the flood. Looking for a deeper dive? See how acting on climate change will also make New Brunswick communities healthier in our 2019 report,Healthy Climate, Healthy New Brunswickers.
What difference does a degree or two make?
We’re all sensitive to changes in temperature. Too hot or too cold and we’re just not comfortable. It’s the same with the natural world. In New Brunswick, and Canada, we have warmed at more than double the global rate over the last 70 years: almost two degrees of warming compared to about 1 degree Celsius globally. Sounds like a small increase, doesn’t it? What most of us don’t realize is that it takes avast amount of heatto warm the oceans, land and air by one degree.
Global heating is causingbig changes to the weather. Weather patterns are changing. Weather is becoming extreme. Hotter air absorbs more water, fueling more intense storms that release more rainfall or snow. Flooding disrupts our lives and contaminates soil. Heat waves harm our health. Drought makes it harder to get a good crop and lowers the nutrient value of our food. Hotter temperatures increase the risk of disease from ticks and mosquitoes.
How has the climate (the long-term average of weather) changed in New Brunswick since 1970?
Hotter: Double the level of average warming globally
The Government of New Brunswickreports that temperatures in our province have increasedby 1.5°C relative to historical norms and seasonal temperatures have increased in all parts of the province. Most of this warming has occurred since the late 1970s. The level of warming in our province is similar to the average for the rest of Canada (1.7 degrees Celsiusbetween 1948 and 2016) and it is a ratetwice that of the global average.
Wetter: We are getting more rain and snow per precipitation event
Warmer air holds more moisture, meaning there can be more rain or snow when there is precipitation. All that heat is already increasing precipitation because 71 per cent of the Earth is ocean. Scientists calculate that for every one degree Celsius increase in temperature, the atmosphere can hold seven per cent more water. That extra waterincreases the volume of precipitation by one to two per centper degree of warming.
More unpredictable: More floods, heatwaves, dry periods between extreme rain or snow events
Katharine Hayhoe, a world-leading climate scientist, explains the situation like this:
Now, let's talk solutions
You know what we’re up against.
The good news is there is lots we can do to slow climate change and protect our communities.
Click here to get started today, or explore the sections below.
Ciizens can do their part
Governments can do their part
How and Why Climate Change is Affecting New Brunswick
How Global Heating Works
Who Pollutes our Climate the Most in N.B.?
These videos explore how climate change is already affecting the things we love doing in New Brunswick, and how we can all do our part for solutions.
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