A collection of coastal risk resources
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) Cities Adapt Books
Three books with 60 case studies describing local action in Canada that is consistent with best practices for climate resilience identified by ICLR. The books explore successful local actions to address extreme rainfall, extreme heat and extreme weather in cities across Canada.
Resilient-C
Resilient-C was created by professor Stephanie Chang and her team at the University of British Columbia. The project identifies and connects communities in Canada facing similar coastal hazard vulnerabilities so they can share knowledge, resources and best practices.
FloodSmartCanada
An easy-to-use website focusing on floods, flood risks, and emergency preparedness for individuals, communities, businesses and municipalities created by Partners for Action.
Perspectives on Climate Change Action in Canada - A Collaborative Report from Auditors General
This March 2018 report (PDF) is the result of audits carried out between 2016 and 2018 by Canada's auditors general. It brings to light the work that has collectively been done by provinces and territories for addressing the impacts of climate change in Canada. It is the first report of its kind.
Canada's Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate Report (PDF)
Natural Resources Canada recently published a report synthesizing 1,300 recent publications about climate change adaptation, impacts, risks and opportunities along Canada's coasts called Canada's Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate. The synthesis (PDF) of this report is also available.
Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts - Toolkit (RISC-KIT)
Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts - Toolkit or "RISC-KIT" is a project funded by the European Union with the goal of developing methods, tools and management approaches for addressing natural hazards in coastal zones. Over the years, RISC-KIT has developed databases, coastal risk assessment frameworks, a management guide for coastal risks, among other tools.
Developing Effective Dialogue between Practitioners of Climate Change Vulnerability-Risk Assessments (PDF)
Practitioners often speak different languages. By understanding how members of an interdisciplinary team operate, communicate and conceptualize, we can identify where communication gaps and conflicts might occur between them. This 2014 report focuses on concepts, principles and language used by Engineers and Climate Scientists during actual projects for the BC Ministry of Transportation. It is intended as a resource in discussions, and to be consulted when more clarity and better understanding between disciplines is required.
Governing the Coastal Commons: Communities, Resilience and Transformation (PDF)
How are communities around the globe adapting to environmental change? How can governance of common property build resilience within social and ecological systems? This booklet briefly outlines a useful and timely book edited by University of Waterloo's Derek Armitage, Saint Mary's University's Anthony Charles and the University of Manitoba's Fikret Berkes.
Climate Central
Climate Central is an excellent resource to access facts about climate change, leading scientific research on climate change, and accessible information about climate change's impacts on the public.
Visit Climate Central's Surging Seas website to interact with maps that visualize the impacts of sea level rise around the globe.
Affected areas by sea level rise in Metro Vancouver under a future climate scenario. Source: Climate Central
SeaLevelRise.ca
Sea Level Rise is a website created to educate people about sea level rise and the impacts of climate change in Nova Scotia. Using this resource, you can learn about how climate change is related to sea level rise, and what communities can do to adapt to rising waters. If you have seen changes in your local landscape, you can submit your observations using their interactive map.
On the Rocks - a policy brief on the Coastal Protection Act (PDF)
In this 2010 policy brief (PDF), the Ecology Action Centre describes why the Province of Nova Scotia needs coherent province-wide legislation regarding coastal development and coastal land use. This need was recognized by the provincial government in 2017 when they announced their commitment to creating the Coastal Protection Act.
Flood Economics
What is the return on investment of flood risk mitigation works? This website showcases case studies from communities across the United States. Users can filter case studies by population size and types of flood risk (e.g., storm surge flooding).
Maritime Coastal Flood Risk Map
This interactive map allows users to see how changing water levels can impact Atlantic Canada communities. Users can see how coastal communities can be impacted under different flood scenarios. This is one way to visualize how rising sea levels could permanently affect the Atlantic Canada landscape in the future.
City of Surrey Climate Adaptation Strategy (PDF)
The City of Surrey, British Columbia, outlines 91 actions to improve climate change resilience in 6 different sectors. "The Strategy ensures that the City is doing what needs to be done, in a timely and cost effective way, based on the best available science and information. As our knowledge evolves, so will this Strategy".
Climate Risks & Adaptation Practices for the Transportation Sector (PDF)
Part of Canada's Adaptation Platform, this report brings together experts from industry, government and professional organizations to collaborate on adapting to climate change within the transportation sector across Canada. Engineering, technological, policy, planning, management and maintenance approaches to adaptation are discussed.
Fraser Basin Council's Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy
In May 2018, the Fraser Basin Council released its second Flood Strategy Briefing offering progress updates on Phase 2 of their Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy "launched to better protect communities along the lower Fraser River and south coast". Phase 1 was completed in 2016, and its subsequent report can also be found by following the link above.
AdaptNS.ca
AdaptNS is an interactive map created to visualize coastal flooding and sea level rise impacts in rural Nova Scotia. This application was created to support climate change adaptation by identifying places that are of importance to communities and are also vulnerable to sea level rise and damaging storm surges. You can find a peer-reviewed publication that discusses this tool.
Workshop Proceedings: Climate Change Adaptation Governance in BC (PDF)
On March 6th, 2018, a workshop was held in Vancouver focused on climate change adaptation and governance in Canada. This workshop focused specifically on issues present in British Columbia (BC). This report summarizes participant discussions on barriers and opportunities in relation to climate change adaptation in BC (e.g., need for senior government leadership and clear adaptation targets).
After the Flood: The impact of climate change on mental health and lost time from work (PDF)
Prolonged worry, extreme stress and weeks off work. Mental health impacts of flooding are likely to worsen as frequency and severity of flooding increases. Read this report by Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation's Dana Decent and Dr. Blair Feltmate.
In June 2018, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report and an interactive mapping tool exploring the impacts of rising seas on US coastal real estate. Image source: Union of Concerned Scientists.
Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate
What is at risk for US coastal real estate from sea level rise? What are the challenges and choices the US faces now and into the future? Look here for answers to these questions, interactive flood risk maps, and more. From the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Measuring Progress on Adaptation and Climate Resilience: Recommendations to the Government of Canada (PDF)
This is the final report published by the expert panel on climate change adaptation and resilience in Canada. The panel was comprised of members from Indigenous organizations and governments, academia, the private sector, government, non-governmental organizations, and youth organizations.
Combatting Canada's Rising Flood Costs: Natural infrastructure is an underutilized option (PDF)
How can we use natural, or "green" infrastructure to curb flood risk? "Retain what you have, restore what you've lost and build what you must". This 2018 report finds that natural infrastructure can not only be more cost efficient than built infrastructure, it produces social and environmental benefits. The report is published by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) in partnership with the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and the International Institute for Sustainable Development. IBC also released an infographic about natural infrastructure (PDF).
Application of re/insurance models to estimate increases in flood risk due to climate change
This article by researchers at the University of Waterloo uses insurance catastrophe models to estimate increases in flood losses overtime due to a changing climate. The geographic focus of the study was Halifax, Nova Scotia. Findings show that without mitigation or adaptation, annual flood losses could increase by up to 300% by the end of the century.
Managing Urban Flood Risk: A Framework for Evaluating Alternative Policy Instruments
Henstra and Thistlethwaite offer a framework for municipal officials to evaluate flood risk management policy instruments that may be suitable for reducing flood risk in different local contexts
Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine held workshops to gain an initial understanding of the causes and impacts of urban flooding. This report summarized their findings from real-world case studies.
Water on the Rise: Protecting Canadian Homes from the Growing Threat of Flooding (PDF)
The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation reports on the development, implementation and findings from their Home Flood Protection Program (2016-2018).