Adapting to Climate Change

Publications

April 2008

• A Summary of Climate Change Effects on Watershed Hydrology This Ministry of Forests and Range Extension Note 87 outlines recent and projected changes to hydrology, and implications for forest management. It summarizes two technical articles published in FORREX's Streamline Watershed Management Bulletin. These articles cover: i) Climate Change and Watershed Hydrology: Part 1 – Recent and Projected Changes in British Columbia and ii) Part 2 – Hydrologic Implications for British Columbia.

March 2008

• Climate change, impacts, and adaptation scenarios: climate change and forest and range management in British Columbia. Technical Report 045 by Dave Spittlehouse.

February 2008

• Premier’s Forestry Climate Action Meeting, Prince George, Feb 15, 2008. Presentations provided an opportunity for the forest sector to identify opportunities for greenhouse gas reduction and to articulate a climate action vision. (Note: All materials in this section are the work of external contributors, and the Ministry makes no claim regarding the contents therein).
  • A Vision for the Forest Sector – Ric Slaco, Vice President International Forest Products
  • Convergence of the Markets for Fuel. Food and Fiber: A Land-Use Perspective – Don G. Roberts, Managing Director, CIBC World Markets
  • BC’s Forest Sector: Biorefineries, Bioenergy and Climate Change – Jack Saddler, Dean, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia
  • Overview of Climate Action Initiatives – Graham Whitmarsh, Head, Climate Action Secretariat

• Climate Change Posters
  • Climate Change in BC - the Imperative (an overview of BC's mitigation efforts relevant to forests)
  • BC's Green Advantage (opportunities and actions to address forest carbon)
  • Adapting to Climate Change (including the Future Forest Ecosystem Initiative)

January 2008

• Future Forest Ecosystem Initiative Strategic Plan

May 2007

• The 2007 report by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) focuses on Mitigation of Climate Change. Mitigation involves limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere. This report analyses mitigation options in the near-term, and describes long-term strategies to stabilize greenhouse gases at various concentration levels.

April 2007

• April 6, 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their 2007 Working Group II Summary for Policy Makers on Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. This report assesses the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of vulnerability to climate change. It outlines the consequences for ecological systems, socio-economic sectors and human health. The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988 to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It reports approximately every five years on the results of climate change science world wide. It is currently finalizing its Fourth Assessment Report "Climate Change 2007". The reports by the three Working Groups provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the current state of knowledge on climate change.

February 2007

• BC’s Changing Landscape: An Insect’s View on Forest Succession and Management – On February 22, 2007, Dr. Lorraine Maclauchlan, Ph.D. RPF spoke to the Association of BC Forest Professionals at their annual ExpoFor. This presentation touches on the influence of BC forest insects on ecological responses to climate change. It includes information on weather-determined ecosystem processes, and the results of studies on BC's recent outbreaks. Dr MacLauchlan works as Entomologist for Ministry of Forests and Range Southern Interior Forest Region.
• On February 2, 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued their report on The Physical Science Basis of climate change. This Summary for Policymakers assesses the current scientific knowledge of the natural and human drivers of climate change, observed changes in climate, the ability of science to attribute changes to different causes, and projections for future climate change.
  
  This is the first volume of their Fourth Assessment Report which collectively will be “Climate Change 2007.” The report was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries. Over 620 expert reviewers and a large number of government reviewers also participated. The 2007 report updates their third assessment released in 2001.

December 2006

• Climate and Landslides Poster – In December 2006, Vanessa Egginton presented a poster on "Examining climate controls of recent landslides in northern British Columbia, Canada" at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The poster is part of a collaborative effort with Northern Interior Region geomorphologists Marten Geertsema and Jim Schwab, as well as John Clague of Simon Fraser University, to describe climate controls of landslides by using weather data, satellite and radar imagery.
  
  Their work suggests that the frequency of large landslides has increased in the last two decades in the study area. Among a number of findings, they observed that failures may be associated with warmer and wetter conditions found in the weather record, and storms seen on imaging that were not apparent in weather station data. Their conclusions point to landslide vulnerability associated with climate variability, with implications for frequency of large landslides if climate trends persist.
• Climate Change and Us – On December 5th, 2006, Kathy Hopkins and Ben Kangasneimi delivered a presentation on Climate Change and Us to the Ministry of Forests and Range Corporate Services Division. The presentation includes an overview of climate change science, the role of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, impacts on forestry and range values, and what we can do to address the situation. The session was followed by a staff engagement session. Ben Kangasneimi is a Climate Science Specialist with BC Ministry of Environment. Kathy Hopkins is the Technical Advisor, Climate Change for BC Ministry of Forests and Range.

May 2006

• In May 2006, the Ministry of Forests and Range released Preparing for Climate Change: Adapting to Impacts on B.C.'s Forest and Range Resources. This report outlines the challenges, opportunities and actions the ministry, and others might take to prepare for the potential impacts of climate change.

Historical Documents

• Using Provincial Crown Resources to Create and Trade Offset Credits for Carbon Sequestration – McRae Economic Consulting Ltd. – October 2005. This report explored potential economic benefits that might be available to B.C. by exploiting forest potential for further carbon sequestration.