Feb 11 Alert

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Hey Another Feb 11 Alert

Test Alert Two

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Hey Again Running Out of Alert Name

Alert @3.40 Feb 11

nicholas.chambers@ghd.com

Francis Was here

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Some Random Description Here

Climate Adaptation Plan

The City of St. Catharines' Climate Adaptation Plan outlines a variety of climate action goals to address the local impacts of climate change on municipal operations and services.

Climate action goals

Moving towards a climate resilient future requires attainable action and monitoring progress. Review the six climate action goals outlined in the Climate Adaptation Plan:

  1. Prepare for hotter summers
  2. Prepare for and respond to extreme weather events
  3. Develop a flood prevention strategy
  4. Improve stormwater management including the use of green infrastructure
  5. Prepare for high Lake Ontario water levels
  6. Re-think how the city addresses climate change

Five key milestones

The five key milestones for climate adaptation planning are:

  1. Initiate an adaptation effort – complete
  2. Research climate change impacts – complete
  3. Develop an adaptation timeline – complete
  4. Implementation of the plan – in progress
  5. Monitor and review the plan – future action

The city has completed the first three key milestones and is working on the fourth, implementation of the plan. To demonstrate progress the creation of an annual progress report can be found below.

Climate change impacts for St. Catharines

The Climate Adaptation Plan highlights four common areas where we can expect to see the impacts of climate change in our city. Review each area and find out how this will affect our municipal operations and services.

Increase in temperature and heat will have the following climate impacts in St. Catharines:

  • Outdoor workers and firefighters experience increased risk of heat stress and decreased productivity dur to summer heat waves
  • Vulnerable populations will be negatively impacted due to heat stress and will require more City services
  • Ecological impacts to plants and trees from increased heat stress leading to less growth and higher mortality

The top climate impacts resulting from an increase in precipitation, include:

  • Increased spring rainfall leading to increased sewer overflow events resulting in more contamination of local waterways and Lake Ontario
  • Increased runoff leading to increased stormwater pollution and impaired water quality
  • High lake levels reducing the ability to use beaches and City facilities

Some of the top climate impacts of increased heavy precipitation events are:

  • More frequent flooding events affecting more residents and infrastructure
  • Due to increased overland runoff there will be greater need for maintenance of storm drainage systems
  • Higher lake levels lead to increased erosion resulting in damage to shorelines and requiring increased shoreline protection

Here are the top climate impacts of extreme events:

  • Increase in extreme events resulting in property damage and higher insurance
  • Increase in extreme events causes disruptions to transportation routes resulting in delays to emergency response
  • Environmental damage from extreme weather events (i.e., ice storms, severe wind, snowstorms) causes infrastructure damage