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Canadian Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Assessment

The Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Directorate at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is coordinating a national scale scientific assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation in Canada. This assessment will examine the existing and growing body of impacts and adaptation knowledge, to address key questions regarding Canada’s vulnerability to climate change, as well as potential future opportunities for adaptation. Leading Canadian experts from government, academia and the private sector are participating in the Assessment, committing their time and expertise, to help guide the process and author the chapters.

The main goals of the National Assessment are:

• To assess the current state of knowledge regarding Canada’s vulnerability to climate change.
• To provide Canadians with an up-to-date source of information that can be used to inform decision-making and policy development, with a particular focus on adaptation.
• To highlight what we know, and emphasize how much we’ve learned through research since the publication of the last national-scale assessment in 1998.
• To identify any knowledge gaps that need to be addressed.

For more information on the National Assessment click here.

Pollution Probe is the co-lead on the Ontario Chapter

The National Assessment will be divided regionally, and the Ontario Chapter will be co-authored by Dr. Quentin Chiotti, Pollution Probe’s Air Program Director and Senior Scientist, and Beth Lavender, Scientific Planning Officer at NRCan’s Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Directorate. The writing team also includes research assistance from Charles O’Hara, researcher at Pollution Probe, and Jacqueline Richard, assistant coordinator of C-CIARN Ontario at Laurentian University.

The Ontario Chapter brings together leading experts on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations in Ontario to provide input on the implications of climate change for the following sectors: Agriculture, Energy, Ecosystem Health, Coastal Zones, First Nations, Forestry, Human Health, Mining, Municipal Infrastructure, Tourism, Transportation, Water.

Our sectoral experts include:

• Dr. Jean Andrey, University of Waterloo
• Dr. John Casselman, Queen’s University
• Dr. Steve Colombo, Ministry of Natural Resources
• Dr. Rob deLöe, University of Guelph
• Mr. Paul Gray, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
• Mr. Lawrence Ignace, Environment Canada
• Dr. Paul Kovacs, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR)
• Dr. Daniel Scott, University of Waterloo
• Dr. Graeme Spiers, Laurentian University
• Dr. Mark Taylor, AMEC Consulting
• Dr. Ellen Wall, University of Guelph

In addition, the Ontario Chapter has an advisory panel for guiding how the chapter will integrate the input from the different sectors:

• Dr. Philippe Crabbé, University of Ottawa
• Mr. Lawrence Ignace, Environment Canada
• Ms. Joan Klassen, Meteorological Service of Canada, Ontario Region
• Dr. Dieter Riedel, consultant formerly with Health Canada
• Dr. Tom Brydges, consultant, formerly with Environment Canada
• Mr. Al Douglas, Coordinator C-CIARN Ontario

For more information on the Ontario Chapter please contact:

Charles O’Hara, PhD
Researcher, Air Programme
Pollution Probe
625 Church St., Suite 402
Toronto, ON, M4Y 2G1
Email: cohara@pollutionprobe.org

Phone: (416) 926-1907 ext 235
Fax: (416) 926-1601