Climate Change Action

Greenhouse gases, often shortened to GHGs, are gases that trap heat inside the atmosphere. They allow sunlight to pass through to the Earth’s surface, but they prevent the heat generated from escaping the atmosphere. The most common GHGs are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour. 

Climate change is already changing our local weather patterns and will continue to do so in the future. Some of these changes provide beneficial opportunities, like a longer growing season and warmer winters. Other changes result in damaging impacts, such as increased flooding, increased periods of drought and extreme summer temperatures, more fires, and more pests and invasive species because of the warmer winters. According the the Government of Canada's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, despite the benefits provided by climate change, the overall social, economic and environmental consequences will be overwhelmingly negative.

This refers to actions taken to reduce the negative effects we anticipate from climate change. For example, if we expect to have more intense rainstorms in the future, then one way to prepare for this would be to improve the stormwater drainage system so that the city does not experience flooding due to rain. There are many other types of preparations that can be taken - some by residents, some by businesses, and some by different levels of government. 

This refers to actions that will reduce the impacts of climate change. While some of these actions relate to pulling GHGs out of the atmosphere (eg. planting trees, or technological options such as carbon capture and storage), most solutions relate to reducing GHG emissions. This can involve finding sources of energy that emit fewer or no GHGs (geothermal, wind, solar, etc.) than current methods. It can also include reducing the amount of energy used (eg. using more energy efficient light bulbs, improving home insulation so less energy is needed to keep it warm, etc.).