The Municipality of South Huron has developed South Huron's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy thanks to the financial support provided by the Government of Canada through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program (MCIP).
As part of the adaptation strategy, the Community Guide to Understanding and Responding to Climate Change was created and is intended to provide a non-technical overview of climate change and how the community can respond. We have also generated a Climate Change Resource Library (organized by topic) to help individuals and businesses access resources of interest.
Community Guide to Understanding and Responding to Climate Change
If you would like to view the full Community Guide to Understanding and Responding to Climate Change document, please contact staff at communications@southhuron.ca
Explore the Community Guide to Understanding and Responding to Climate Change below:
What is climate change? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When understanding climate change, it is important to decipher climate and weather, as they are often falsely understood as equivalent.
The exact future climate depends on global greenhouse gas emissions. Projections of future changes provide a range of possibilities based on scenarios of low to high global emissions. What we do know: our temperature will continue to warm, precipitation and seasonal patterns will continue to change and changes to the duration, frequency and severity of extreme events. |
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What does climate change mean for South Huron? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aligned with observed global changes, South Huron's climate is also changing and will have a continued impact on local weather, environment, economy and the entire community. In general, South Huron’s future climate will include warming temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, a shift in seasonal changes and changes in the duration, frequency, and severity of extreme weather events. Explore future climate projections for South Huron below:Some notes about understanding future climate projections:
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Responding to climate change: adaptation and mitigation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Responding to climate change can be described using two approaches: adaptation and mitigation.
Some mutual actions which address both adaptation and mitigation include educational programs, natural infrastructure and urban forests, water and energy conservation and local food systems. The most effective response to climate change includes efforts of both adaptation and mitigation, designed to work concurrently and not to undermine or replace each other. |
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How is the Municipality responding to climate change? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With funding received from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, we have developed the South Huron Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and this Community Guide to Understanding and Responding to Climate Change to help the community understand what climate change means for South Huron and how we can respond. As outlined in the adaptation strategy, our vision is to create A future-ready South Huron that is resilient to the impacts of a changing climate. Based on the impacts from climate change identified for South Huron, a series of eight (8) goals were developed along with adaptation action items to address each goal:
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How can the community respond to climate change? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Helpful terms you should know | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adaptation is an action that adjusts practices, processes or structures in response to the unavoidable impacts, either opportunities or threats, caused by climate change. The goal of effective adaptation is to anticipate the impacts ahead of time (proactive) rather than after the impacts have been experienced (reactive).
Climate change refers to a significant variation to long-term (typically decades or longer) change in climate (global or regional) which reflects changes in weather patterns, including an increase in temperature, fluctuating precipitation patterns and extreme weather events. Global Warming refers to the long-term warming in temperature observed on a global scale. Global warming is one aspect of climate change. The primary source of global warming is in the increase of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released into the atmosphere by human-made activities which burn fossil fuels including transportation, manufacturing and electricity. Natural sources of GHG emissions include volcanic activity, the Earth’s orbit, and the solar output. The Greenhouse Effect refers to the buildup and long term presence of GHGs in the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere becomes thicker which traps the sun’s radiation (heat), making the Earth’s air temperature warmer. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) refers to gases that have the property of trapping heat or longwave radiation in the atmosphere that was radiated from Earth, contributing to the greenhouse effect (see definition). The following gases are considered a greenhouse gas: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4 Mitigation refers to measures implemented to reduce the contributing sources of climate change (ex. GHG emissions reduction) that contribute to the unavoidable impacts. Resilience refers to the capability to respond and recover to change or disruption while maintaining an acceptable level of service or functionality. Weather refers to the variation in short-term atmospheric conditions (temperature, wind, precipitation, humidity, cloud cover) that occur from minutes to weeks. |
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Learn more about climate change | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Climate Change Resource Library
Want to learn more about specific topics related to climate change action? Browse our library of resources below, organized by topic.
Adaptation |
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Air Quality |
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Agriculture and Forestry |
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Climate Change Basics |
Coastal Environment |
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Energy |
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Fleet and Transportation |
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Flooding |
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Infrastructure |
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Mitigation |
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Natural Environment |
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Public Health |
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Students and Youth |
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Water |
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Waste |
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About our project partners
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is a voice for municipalities across Canada. They provide support to strengthen communities and to ensure the needs are reflected in federal policies and programs. With funding from the Government of Canada, the FCM launched the Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program (MCIP). The MCIP is a five-year $75-million program aimed at providing assistance to more than 600 municipalities in responding to climate change for the protection of citizens, environment and the economy.
Contact(s)