This province is not immune to the effects of rising global temperatures, according to the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Director for Climate Change Louise Comeau says temperatures in New Brunswick are up 1.5 degrees over pre industrial levels.
She says more heat means more water in the atmosphere which is leading to more severe weather like intense rain.
“More snow, more rain when we get snow and/or rain, and Post Tropical Storm Arthur was a very good example,” says Comeau. “We’ve had winter flooding, we’ve had spring flooding, if you live in Saint Andrews this isn’t a surprise to you, if you live in Perth-Andover, this isn’t a surprise.”
Comeau says the provincial government has studied the financial costs of climate change driven severe weather like storms, coastal erosion and flooding.
“They are very high relative to what others in the country might face, particularly because of the flooding issues and coastal erosion, up to five times higher than what they think the average will be per Canadian,” says Comeau. “So we do have some real issues here that need to be managed.”
Comeau says the costs of flooding alone totalled $80 million since 2010.
She adds there are also more hidden economic costs.
“The other aspect of course, is when you think of a power outage which is a more common occurrence now with more extreme weather, our businesses have downtime, we have difficulties getting to work, we lose food, all of those things have an economic cost,” says Comeau.
She adds the North Shore, in particular places like Lameque and Cocagne, is suffering from severe coastal erosion because of increased wave action and the battering from ice.
