Author: Sarah Norman
Date: July 27th, 2024
Area of Impact:
Atlantic Canada
Article Information and Location:
Canada’s premiers forced to confront escalating climate change disasters
Lindsay Armstrong/CBC Atlantic/July 25, 2024
INTRODUCTION
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, the premiers of Canada gathered to discuss the various problems facing their provinces and territories. Among the topics discussed was climate change. Climate change refers to changes in weather trends worldwide, and many of the changes we are currently going through are human-caused. This has various negative impacts: heat waves and wildfires, stronger hurricane seasons, and rising seas, among other effects.
The article is a political event summary. It describes how though many other things were discussed, climate change stayed consistently in the hall. It delves into the specifics of what was stated.
INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANCE
In their busy agenda, climate change and the worsening disasters that accompany it were consistent throughout the three days of meetings. It is mentioned how most premiers had extreme environmental events going on back home, and a quote from Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, drives home the urgency of action: “This is a red alert type of situation. Not only is there an enormously high degree of risk, we’re realizing that risk is only going to increase. As bad as things are now with floods, wildfires, and extreme heat events, it’s going to get worse. Climate change is irreversible.”
The importance of this is that the government is increasingly being forced to act and consider the harm done to nature surrounding and formerly in our cities. The main problem in the article is that solutions aren’t being presented quickly enough. Though this can change, it must be a cooperative effort, and until then this will continue to become a more and more integral part of our lives.
CONCLUSION
To finish off, here are the takeaways of this article: the provincial government of Canada is acknowledging that change is happening, and that it is a key issue of our time. They are experiencing increasing pressure to act, as well as improve, the emergency systems we have in preparation for what is to come.
This is significant to all of Atlantic Canada, as it means that though things will get worse, something can be done.