Flooding, heat waves and drought threaten P.E.I. in the future: Climate change report - Action News
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Flooding, heat waves and drought threaten P.E.I. in the future: Climate change report

Heat waves, flooding, ice storms and drought are among the scenarios that Islanders will face in coming decades due to climate change, the province said in a climate risk report released Wednesday.

'We are worried, very worried'

This scene from post-tropical storm Dorian could become more common on P.E.I. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This story is part of a CBC News initiative entitledOur Changing Planetto show and explain the effects of climate change and what is being done about it.

Heat waves, flooding, ice storms and drought are among the scenariosIslanders will face in coming decades due to climate change, according to aclimate change risk report released Wednesday.

At Lennox Island First Nation, withmany homes close to water, and the only road access by causeway, they're taking the risk seriously.

"We are worried, very worried," said Chief Darlene Bernard. "Climate change is real. We're a small coastal community. We're worried because Hurricane Dorian,it opened our eyes."

Chief Bernard says her community in Lennox Island has seen feet of shoreline loss. (Skype)

"We know there's more storms coming, and there's going to be more erosion happening."

The 176-page climate risk assessment says by 2050 Islanders will see significantly more severe weather, including coastal erosion, heat waves, heavy rain, flooding, severe ice stormsand drought.

The report warns of possible fatalities in heat waves especially among seniors, infants and people already at risk.

At Martha Place, an affordable housing complex in Charlottetown, units include heat pumps, andpresident of Kings Square Affordable Housing, Bill Campbell, said future projects will include even more measures like extra insulation in roofs and walls.

Bill Campbell says his group is including heavy-duty insulation in new builds to better protect residents from climate change. (Brian Higgins/CBC )

"All this stuff costs money and we don't have any option anymore. We've got to start doing that to prepare for the consequences of climate change," Campbell said.

Kings Square plans to break ground on 120 new affordable housing units in Summerside anytime now, including those added measures to soften the blow of climate change.

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'Last summer was like a drought'

P.E.I.'s rivers and streams, and the fish that live in them, will be at risk both from flooding and from drought.

Staff at Central Queens Wildlife Federation saythey're already seeing changes.

Jordan Condon says heavy rainfall events create silt run off which creates poor habitats for fish. (Brian Higgins/CBC )

"Last summer was like a drought," said Jordan Condon.

"Salmon were using weird habitats to breed just because water levels were so low, so that might have a long-term effect, using lower-quality habitat."

Community losing 'feet' of shoreline

Back on Lennox Island, one resident told CBC News they could see shoreline erosion with their own eyes, little by little.

They've reinforced their commercial wharf with extra rocks along the shore in recent years.

"Our community has lost feet. Feet, feet, feet, not inches," Chief Bernard said. She saidthey've tallied the cost of moving the entire community, if need be, and itcould reach upwards of$50 million.

For now, they're proposing to install more rock, and tons of it,to protect the shoreline there.

With files from Brian Higgins