A new website will show how climate change really hits home.
The Nuclear Innovation Institute's Climate Project is an online resource to help residents in Huron, Bruce, and Grey Counties see how climate change is impacting the air, land, and water.
The Institute's Director of Environment, Stephanie Keating, said it's critical to understand how climate change affects local environments.
"Our goal with the climate project was to create an online hub of information that's specifically tailored to people in Bruce, Grey, and Huron Counties and local indigenous communities that are all located within the Saugeen Ojibway Nation territory," Keating explained. "So the work began with work that Bruce Power has been doing in environmental protection and sustainability. They've been monitoring the environment in the region for decades. And we started with that, and then really extended the scope to pull in information from a whole wealth of different resources."
Keating hoped the website would help make the issue more relatable, as the constant news on global warming can make the issue seem less tangible.
"We took a whole bunch of complex information from a lot of different sources. So we have academic studies and papers government and NGO reports, indigenous knowledge and a lot more. We have some climate projections from different sites, and we're sharing that in a way that's really accessible and engaging. So within the climate project site, we present the information as a story in three chapters. We have air, water and land," she expanded. "Each of these chapters is divided into other sections. So for example, within the land section, we talk about agriculture, land management, forests, wetlands, and watersheds. Everything's presented in really accessible language with interactive elements. And we also includes spotlights on local organizations that are doing work on climate change and sustainability. So it's meant to be a living website. We're going to continue to update it and add to it as new science comes in and as we connect with new partners."
Keating said the hub will help answer questions, such as how warming air affects the region.
"So the lake water temperature is also going up, and that can be harmful to some fish populations that are dependent on colder environments. So an example is white fish. Changing the temperature for water can affect how they develop, and depending on, you know, certain climate change predictions, we can see certain native species like this start to decline in our lakes,
She warned heatwaves are a serious threat. She worried about the health impact of increasing heat waves, which can be life threatening for vulnerable people and seniors.
"Heat waves, for example, are some things that can be really concerning. So in the recent past, like 1976 to 2005, they took an average and the Owen Sound region experienced a heat wave roughly every other year," she explained. "Depending on what type of warming we're going to see in the future, some projections say that this could increase to nearly five heat waves per year."
Keating said another impact of global warming is the growing threat of invasive species.
"Changing sort of the climate, and changing weather, different weather patterns, different precipitation patterns, these can all affect the life cycles of pests and how they can spread into new areas," she pointed out. "So some invasive species, like for example, the spongy moth, their populations are often controlled by diseases that can be less effective when we have warm and dry conditions."
The project is funded by Bruce Power.
“Bruce Power is committed to environment protection and sustainability. We have been monitoring the environment in this region for decades, studying the real and potential effects of our operations, so that we can understand and mitigate potential impacts,” said Danielle La Croix, Sr. Director of the Environment, Sustainability & Net Zero, Bruce Power and NII Board Member. “Through the Climate Project, we wanted to create a hub where information and Indigenous knowledge can be shared and discussed, and empower people to make decisions with clear, understandable and up-to-date information at their fingertips."
“Knowing how climate change affects our lives and local environments is critical for how we deal with it,” said Jessica Linthorne, President & CEO, Nuclear Innovation Institute. “This digital hub is a living site, and we encourage other groups doing climate change research to get in touch as we continue to expand the project.”
Find out how climate change is affecting this region’s air, water and land at climateproject.ca.