Global Warming Threatens Infrastructure in Canada’s North
30.11.2009 - Logistics, Land & Geology, Ice & Snow, Human Dimension, Arctic
Roads, buildings and other infrastructure in northern Canada will be increasingly affected by global warming with disastrous consequences as temperatures become increasingly milder in the area, according to a recent report by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).
The NRTEE report outlines the risks of coastal erosion, storm surges, wildfires, blizzards and changing wind and snowfall patterns. It calls for measures such as more stringent building codes, better disaster planning and insurance policies taking the risks of global warming into account.
Dangers of global warming in northern Canada include a shorter life for ice roads linking mines, as well as problems for remote communities, which often lack back-up electrical generators, roads and even secondary hospitals. Beyond these immediate dangers, the most severe consequences may be damage to containment structures full of toxic mine tailings and other materials, which rely on stable permafrost to be effective.
