New report on climate change describes challenges ahead for Atlantic Canada

Hotter days, crumbling coastlines, rising seas and a reduction in timber supply: a new federal report paints a bleak picture of the impacts of climate change in Atlantic Canada in the coming decades.

The new Atlantic chapter of Canada in a Changing Climate, a rolling series of reports by the federal government, gives New Brunswick MLAs a lot to ponder as they begin work on a new provincial climate plan in early 2022.

"The report does highlight how varied the challenges are, and the solutions are, for each of the sectors, and also within each of the provinces," says University of Prince Edward Island climate scientist Stephanie Arnold, one of the lead co-authors.

Arnold says while policy debates focus on how to lower greenhouse gas emissions, there's been less attention to responding to impacts happening now.

"I think adaptation has maybe had less focus, but is equally important as we are dealing with a changing climate," she says.

"So this is a really good opportunity to show what needs to be done, what has been done, and also an indication of what more there is left to do."

The report describes regional challenges including "an inability to keep pace with the rate of change," "difficulties in coping with climate change impacts to natural systems," the complexity of multiple levels of governments seeking solutions, and a lack of adaptation planning in new development.

It points out a lack of land-use planning in some unincorporated areas of New Brunswick and a lack of climate risk assessments in most municipalities in the province.

In January the New Brunswick Legislature's committee on climate change and environmental stewardship will meet over two weeks to hear from experts on how to update the provincial climate action plan.

The federal government will also release its proposal for a clean electricity standard, including a net-zero-emissions electricity grid by 2035.

That will shape discussions about the Atlantic Loop, a plan to integrate electricity generation and transmission in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec to share hydroelectric power throughout the region.

New Brunswick will also release a major study on the flooding risk to the Chignecto Isthmus, the only road and rail link between Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.

"There's a lot going on, which means the New Brunswick process shouldn't be a sleeper," says Louise Comeau of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

The new federal report is a synthesis of more than a decade's worth of climate science.