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| How Can I Help? |
| Visit our resources page for actions residents, businesses and community organizations can take to assist in the climate action process. |
| What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation? |
| Climate Change Adaptation refers to any action that seeks to reduce vulnerability to the local climate change impacts. Mitigation refers to measures that aim to address the root causes of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While mitigation efforts aim to reduce the long-term effects of global warming, adaptation measures are needed to minimize impacts of a changing climate. Adaptation is not meant to replace or undermine mitigation efforts. It’s a proactive way to protect from expected impacts and avoid high costs of remediating damages. |
| What are the impacts of climate change on our water resources? |
| Climate change is expected to lead to warmer winters and longer summers. Average annual precipitation is expected to rise, with an increase in precipitation falling in the winter, spring, and fall and a decrease falling in the summer. It is expected that water resources will be put under stress both from a quantity and quality perspective, especially with the expected increase of temperatures and prolonged drought periods. Lower stream baseflows and soil moisture will have an impact on food security. |
| What can we do to help mitigate the effects of Climate Change? |
| Everyone can play a part in reducing the need for fossil fuels and participate in creating a cleaner, more green and sustainable future. Encouraging greener ways to commute, supporting local businesses and farmers, upcycling materials and using energy efficient items are just a handful of ways that we can help to reduce climate change. |
| What are Greenhouse Gases? |
| Greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be both naturally occurring and created by humans. There are six primary GHGs found in the atmosphere: Water Vapour (H20), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Ozone (O3) and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). GHGs are essential in the atmosphere because they allow the heat from the Sun to pass through and warm the Earth but do not let the heat pass back through into space. This is what has allowed the Earth to sustain life. The issue surrounding Climate Change and GHGs, is that because of human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and intense agriculture, the natural balance has been affected, resulting in a higher concentration of GHGs now found in the atmosphere. |