By Marika Motiwalla
Intense storms and droughts could increase in number and severity – and Canadians will be affected by the changing climate’s effect on water resources, according to James P. Bruce.
Bruce, an environmental policy specialist, spoke about this to a small group of students and faculty at the University of Western Ontario on Monday, December 7. His talk was called Water Resources in a Changing Climate and emphasis was put on the effects of greenhouse gases on the world’s water supply.
Bruce is on the Expert Panel on Groundwater for the Council of Canadian Academics, has written several books and articles on climate change and holds honorary degrees from the University of Waterloo and McMaster University.
By analyzing trends in temperatures and water resources since the 1960’s Bruce discussed worldwide water resources and how changes in climate are occurring more rapidly than expected and this is in part because of greenhouse gas emissions.
“As world leaders are gathering in Copenhagen it is rather timely to talk about our essential water resources,” he said.
Bringing worldwide information and applying it to a more local scale was a repeated theme throughout the talk.
Bruce spoke about the effects of the climate change on water resources in Canada and across the world as well as the adaptation options society has.
One important effect discussed by Bruce was that the atmosphere can hold more water as it warms and his studies showed that the atmosphere will hold seven per cent more water vapour for every one degree of warming which happens globally.
What this means for the average person is that there will be more frequent heavy precipitation.
So, even more specifically, what does heavier rain mean for those in London and the surrounding area? Bruce discussed how the agricultural industry can be negatively affected because heavy rainfalls during the springtime can heighten soil erosion.
Learning from the past was another important part of Bruce’s talk. He made the connection between heavy rainfall, soil erosion and how contaminants can be washed into the water supply. This was the case with E.Coli in Walkerton, Ontario.
With Bruce’s expertise in environmental policy came advice.
Policies at all three levels of government may help to slow, and ultimately solve, the dangerous effects the changing climate has on water resources, he said.
This message was meant for governments worldwide as well as in Canada and some people took it to heart.
One of them was Dianne Cunningham, director of the Lawrence National Centre at the Richard Ivey School of Business at UWO. The centre is for policy and management. And when it comes to the environment, Cunningham is adamant that change needs a new approach.
Cunningham will be speaking to the city council in London, Ontario. She and other academics and one student will voice their opinion on green energy.
Good leadership at the municipal level of government can go very far according to Bruce. However, he maintained throughout his speech that all three levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal – need to work together to make progress in fighting the effects of climate change.
Cunningham is taking the first step by approaching the municipal government here in London and in a way putting Bruce’s suggestions into action.
She thinks that the municipal level is a good place to start and sees progress as a collaborative effort.
“Government and academics and business should work together to get good public policy and that would be true of this issue of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, talking about rivers and water, and definitely climate change,” she said.
Currently, Cunningham is focusing on the agricultural community and the positive impact they could have on alternative energy. She will be discussing this at the council meeting.
According to Cunningham’s some farmers in Ontario who have approached her have a desire to bring down their emissions.
“(They) wanted not only to provide us with food but provide us with energy,” she said.
The way they will be doing this is to take all the crops that are getting wasted and create agriculture pellets to be burned for energy.
This is an attempt to be part of the solution, said Cunningham.
It is efforts, such as this one, on the municipal level that will help in the long run, according to Bruce.
“In order to prevent runaway warming effect (on water resources) we have to tackle emission reduction,” he said.
Cunningham is attempting to do her part and thinks Bruce’s speech is a pertinent one in today’s world.
“The most important thing is that people get the message and that it’s believable and that it’s balanced,” she said.