Ontario roads, bridges need upgrading to cope with severe weather

By Tanya Talaga Queen’s Park Bureau,Published On Tue Feb 23 2010

Ontario needs to construct flood-proof roads, improve building guidelines and enact local emergency response plans to cope with extreme weather threats, warns a blue-ribbon report on combatting climate change.

That grim news comes from Ontario’s 11-person expert panel on climate-change adaptation, which includes Dr. Ian Burton and Dr. Barry Smit, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

They are urging Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government to use their 96-page report, the culmination of two years of work, as the province’s template for coping with the changing climate.

Temperatures are steadily on the rise and flooding, droughts and severe weather scenarios need to be considered in most infrastructure planning, they say. The latest projected climate scenarios for Ontario in 2050 show an increase in the annual average temperature of 2.5 C to 3.7 C compared to what was seen from 1961 to 1990.

The Far North will be hit the hardest by climate change, experiencing more snow and greater flooding, affecting roads, bridges and First Nations communities.

While Ontario can play a part in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, what actually happens to the broader climate depends on the actions of other countries, the report noted.

“Adaptation, however, is much more within our control,” it says. “Adapt, we can and must.”

By this spring Ontario should produce a “climate change adaptation action plan,” able to guide policy creation in everything from physical infrastructure – such as building better roads and bridges – to agriculture, water, at-risk species and human health, the report said.

Environment Minister John Gerretsen welcomed the report, saying the government knows it has to “do things differently” as a result of climate change. The report has now been handed out to various ministries.

The 59 recommendations in the report, entitled “Adapting to Climate Change in Ontario” include:

· Setting up a climate-change adaptation directorate in the environment ministry to coordinate an action plan, reporting annually on progress. It should recommend new policy and related legislation to all ministries.

·The agriculture ministry should amend policies relating to business risk management, income support and crop insurance.

· The energy and infrastructure ministry should obtain a climate-change risk assessment of Ontario’s electricity grid and propose adaptive actions.

·The province, working with homebuilders, should assess the possibility and benefits of introducing guidelines to address climate risks – such as extreme flooding – for existing residential, institutional and commercial buildings.

· Introducing requirements in the Ontario Building Code for water conservation measures, such as low flush toilets.

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto Danforth) said the government has known for years adapting to climate change is a problem but no detailed plan has ever surfaced.

“How hot do you want the Earth to be? How badly do you want it cooked?” said Tabuns, a former director of Greenpeace Canada.

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

HEALTH

Environment Canada projects a near doubling of hot days above 30C in Toronto by 2050, increasing the incidence of deaths associated with extreme heat and contributing to smog.

The report calls on the province to assess and, where necessary, expand the capacity of the health ministry to respond to health-related risks resulting from climate change.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Storm system failures, such as the culvert and road washout on Toronto’s Finch Ave. in August 2005, as well as the extensive flooding after severe rains in Peterborough in 2004, raise concerns that storm water infrastructure in many areas of the province may not be able to cope with the challenges of climate change.

The report also highlights the need to introduce climate change risk assessment into infrastructure planning and investment.

GREAT LAKES

Warmer waters are likely to make the Great Lakes more hospitable for invasive species, nuisance algae, pathogens and water-borne diseases. Lower water levels could also affect the province’s $7 billion per year shipping industry and disrupt hydro power generation. The report says Ontario should develop a broad strategy to enhance the resilience of the Great Lakes to climate change.

AGRICULTURE

The 2001-02 drought years are considered among the worst in Canadian history, causing agricultural production to drop by an estimated $3.6 billion, while gross domestic product dropped some $5.8 billion. Ontario farmers have begun to respond to climate change by producing different crops or crop varieties, installing irrigation systems and adjusting the timing of planting, techniques that will become more important if occurrences of drought increase, according to the report.