Climate change is having a growing impact on winter tourism. With warmer temperatures on the rise, the ski industry is seeing less snow and skiiers are spending fewer day on the slopes.
With the right information and often for less than $250, homeowners can protect themselves from the increasing risks of basement floods, according to a report from the University of Waterloo.
Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change are partners in the collaboration and will work closely with the institute to achieve its objectives. IC3 member and head of the Intact Centre, Blair Feltmate, will be a member of the new institute's Adaptation Expert Panel.
Ranked among more than 250 universities from 58 countries, the University of Waterloo has been ranked fifth in its commitments to climate action, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 13, climate action, acknowledges the university's research on climate change as well as their energy use and current mitigation measures.
In December 2018, IC3 and the Univeristy of Waterloo sent six students to the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (“COP24”) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP24 was held in Katowice, Poland, bringing togeher international leaders to discuss climate change and the next steps in implementing the Paris Agreement.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C. The IPCC, a group of scientists convened by the United Nations to guide world leaders, explores the detrimental impacts of climate change on the world, such as food shortages, increase in wildfires and a mass die-off of coral reefs, which could take place as soon as 2040.
Title: Changing Northern Hemisphere snow conditions and their impacts to the snow hydrology of the Western Cordillera’s rivers
Speaker: Stephen J. Déry
Of all extreme weather events in Canada, flooding is currently the costliest, causing millions of dollars in property damage. Nonetheless, the impact of basement flooding on the mental health and lost time from work of impacted homeowners has been only superficially explored, until now.
Studies led by the University of Waterloo, with a group of multinational researchers, have identified that climate change is threatening the future of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Temperatures are rising with the increase of global green house gas emissions, affecting the ability to reliably host the winter games across the globe. The average February daytime temperature of the Olympic Winter Games locations is steadily increasing - from 0.48C in the 1920–1950s, to 3.18C in the 1960–1990s, to 7.88C in games held in the twenty-first century - intensifying the need for weather risk management strategies.
This week, political leaders from all over the world, including new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will arrive in Paris to negotiate a plan to fight global climate change. The University of Waterloo is sending a handful of students to be on the ground in the French capital as the historic agreement unfolds around them.