Climate Change Adaptation and Extreme Weather: Summary Report

Extreme weather events such as severe thunderstorms, ice storms, blizzards, windstorms, tornadoes and hail are part of life in Canada, but these hazards are becoming increasingly frequent and intense as a result of climate change. Both the current impacts and future risks associated with extreme weather events demand climate adaptation policies, courses of action designed to reduce the vulnerability of communities and strengthen their capacity to cope with weather-related impacts. At the end of this report, we outline major recommendations to support the development of Canadian climate adaptation policies at the community level, and identify ways in which the federal and provincial governments can facilitate and support these local actions. A central focus is disaster risk reduction, meaning reduction and, where possible, prevention of loss associated with extreme events. Specific attention is devoted to two policy fields—emergency management and infrastructure planning—that are particularly sensitive to extreme weather events. The recommendations outlined here are drawn from a more comprehensive companion report, entitled Climate Change and Extreme Weather: Designing Adaptation Policy, which is available from Simon Fraser University’s Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT).