Climate Change in Thunder Bay and Area
- Climate Wisconsin, A State of Change: a series of short videos about how climate change is affecting people’s lives — very relevant to life in and around Thunder Bay.
http://climatewisconsin.org/
- Thunder Bay’s Sustainability Plan — Green Buildings: This document is a plan for how to reduce the use of energy and conserve energy in buildings in Thunder Bay. In Ontario, 19% of the greenhouse gas emissions we produce come from buildings — so Thunder Bay’s plan is important. How does the City Plan to do this? Are there plans to use renewable sources of energy for heating in buildings (renewable sources would produce lower greenhouse gas emissions than say the use of natural gas for heating)? What ideas do you have?
http://www.thunderbay.ca/Assets/Earthwise+Assets/docs/Green+Building+Section+of+Sustainability+Plan.pdf
- Adapting to Climate Change in Thunder Bay: Climate change is already having an impact on us all. The severe cold of the winter of 2013-2014 — felt in Thunder Bay and across Ontario — was due in part to climate change. The May 2012 weather event that caused extensive flooding throughout a large part of the City shows how extreme weather events can be very costly. What does the word “resilient” mean and how does the City plan to achieve this? What can individuals do?
http://www.thunderbay.ca/Assets/Earthwise+Assets/docs/Climate+Adaptation+Section+of+Sustainability+Plan.pdf
- Thunder Bay’s Sustainability Plan — Transportation: In Ontario, 35% of the greenhouse gas emissions we produce come from transportation — making how we get around and move goods the single largest biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of this part of Thunder Bay’s Sustainability Plan is to inspire and influence the evolution of integrated urban mobility that is efficient, affordable, and accessible (or more transportation with in the city). Besides inside the city, what ideas can you come up with for other kinds of transportation: moving goods long distances, travel between major cities and recreational vehicles?
http://www.thunderbay.ca/Assets/Earthwise+Assets/docs/Mobility+Section+of+Sustainability+Plan.pdf
- Lake Superior, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: This is a very recent and detailed report — some of the sections relevant to your Thunder Bay inquiry are:
* all of the Executive Summary beginning; on page viii;
* the summary of projected changes to the climate (how might these affect you and the community — recreation?, more extreme weather?, etc.?); on page ix
* summary of the effects, or impacts, of these changes; on page x.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/Lake_Superior_Climate_Change_Impacts_and_Adaptation_445176_7.pdf
- Ice Cover on the Great Lakes and Climate Change: Understanding the major effect of ice on the Great Lakes is crucial because it impacts a range of societal benefits provided by the lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry. The amount of ice cover varies from year to year, as well as how long it remains on the lakes. Climate change is affecting and will affect ice cover. This site provides a number of ice cover maps and atlases that show changes over periods of time. What trends do you see? Can you correlate these maps to your experience (the winter of 2014 and 2015 was very cold, while the winter of 2015 and 2016 was affected by El Nino)?
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/
An organization you might want to contact in conducting your inquiry and finding out about environmental action in Thunder Bay:
- EcoSuperior: their goal is to achieve greater environmental stewardship in Northwestern Ontario and the Lake Superior Basin through engagement, education, collaboration, action and leadership
http://www.ecosuperior.org/
