Where we live

Where we live, work, and play, how and what we build, and how we travel are all affected by weather events and climate. Many decisions we make routinely every day are affected by the weather: what we wear, how we travel, and how we use our recreational time. Many things we depend on in our day-to-day lives are affected by climate: the design capacity of our sewer systems, the energy efficiency of our houses, and the delineation of hazardous areas such as flood plains, for example.

Shorter winters will likely mean lower maintenance and snow-removal costs for our roads and railways, a shorter winter recreation season, and a longer summer recreation season.

More frequent freezing rain events could affect energy transmission and road and airline safety. More frequent freeze-thaw cycles could speed up the weathering process on our buildings and roadways.

Managing extremes

Ontario falls prey to a number of natural hazards: drought, heat waves, floods, rain, snow and ice storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes (although rare). Small changes in average climate conditions are expected to generate significant changes in extreme events.

Experts anticipate:

• fewer extremely cold days and more extremely hot days;
• more severe thunderstorms, which can cause injury and property damage;
• more frequent freezing rain events.

The total number of weather-related disasters per year that cause death or injury or involved evacuation has increased significantly since 1911. These statistics indicate that we have become more vulnerable to damage from extreme weather events.

Did you know?
The ice storm of January 1998 deposited about twice the amount of freezing rain than previous ice storms on record. Stretching from as far west as Kitchener, through eastern Ontario, western Quebec, and the Eastern Townships to the Fundy coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the storm caused

• at least 25 deaths, many from hypothermia;
• about 100 000 households to lose power in Ontario; 900 000 in Quebec;
• 14 000 troops to be deployed to help with clean up, evacuation, and security;
• the destruction of millions of trees, 120 000 km of power lines and telephone cables, 130 major transmission towers each worth $100 000, and about 30 000 wooden utility poles each costing $3000.

References

Francis, D. and Hengeveld, H., 1998: Extreme weather and climate change; Climate Change Digest, Environment Canada, 31 p.

Haley, D., 1999: Perspectives from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Atmospheric Change in the Toronto-Niagara region: Towards an Integrated Understanding of Science, Impacts and Responses, (ed.)B. Mills and L. Craig; in Proceedings of a Workshop held May 27-28, 1998, University of Toronto; Environment Canada.

Philips, D., 1998: The Worst Ice Storm in Canadian History?; Environment Canada (online: http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/cd/icestorm98/icestorm98_the_worst_e.cfm).