Thursday, November 15, 2007

Climate Change for British Columbia

The National Disgrace might not buy it but its little sister, the Vancouver Province seems to understand that climate change is coming to our beautiful province and in a big way.

"B.C.'s long-range weather forecast calls for winter storms and heavy rain followed by summer droughts, says the province's top climate expert.

Global warming is changing B.C.'s weather patterns for the worse, says Dr. Andrew Weaver of the Earth and Ocean Sciences Centre at the University of Victoria.

"Global warming is changing the way heat is being added to our planet," Weaver said yesterday. "The northern latitudes are warming up more than the tropical latitudes.

Heavy rainfall in winter is going to be standard on the West Coast, he said. "When it rains, it rains more, in bigger amounts. You get the summer drought, and the winter precipitation."
Weaver said the melting of Arctic ice in Greenland has the potential to add up to 70 centimetres to planetary sea levels this century.


It could cause particular problems for low-lying B.C. cities such as Richmond. "You've got the global sea-level rise, but you also get silt coming out of the Fraser," he said."

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