[URBAN NOTE] "Why Toronto Should Become More Climate Change Resilient"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist features a guest post by Catherine McIntyre on behalf of Toronto and Region Conservation talking about how Toronto can prepare itself for imminent climate change.

The future could get a whole lot hotter.

Imagine it’s 2040, and the daily temperature reaches a high of 44°C. This isn’t idle speculation—it’s what is projected for Toronto, according to a staff report [PDF].

But climate change isn’t just a threat that exists in the distant future. In reality, the effects of global warming are already plainly apparent across the Greater Toronto Area, and call for immediate action.

We need only look back to 2013 as a reminder that our typically moderate climate is not immune to the extreme weather associated with climate change: On July 8 of that year, a month’s worth of rain fell on the city in a matter of hours. Five months later, an ice storm rocked Toronto, leaving some residents without power for 12 days, and cost $106 million to clean up.

The impacts extreme weather like this has on the health of species and habitats, the city’s infrastructure, and watersheds are severe. Fortunately, the Toronto Region and Conservation, in conjunction with private partners and municipalities across the region, are working to stymie the effects of climate change. Here, we look at how the warming planet is taking a toll on the city, and what the TRCA is doing about it.