Insurance Bureau of Canada releases new research report

PR Newswire: What will Canada's weather look like 40 years from now?  According to projections made by Professor Gordon McBean, a world renowned climate scientist from the University of Western Ontario, warmer temperatures in the summer months will, in some regions, result in an increase in wild fires, drought, water scarcity, lightning flash density and the risk of hail storms.  Also parts of the country will see more intense winter storms, more freezing rain and precipitation, as well as a significant decline in sea ice cover and increased coastal erosion.

These are some of the findings of a research report released today entitled Telling the Weather Story: Can Canada Manage the Storms Ahead?  The research was commissioned by Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and conducted by Dr. McBean and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.  Dr. McBean is also President-elect of the International Council for Science; Chair of the ad-hoc Committee for the Ontario Regional Climate Change Consortium; Chair of Board of the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences; former Chair of the international Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Program; and member of the UNESCO High Panel for Science for Development.

According to Dr. McBean, "Both the historical and projected trends shown in the research point to the need for Canada to adapt now in order to minimize social and economic costs in the future."

Gregor Robinson is Senior Vice President, Policy and Chief Economist with IBC.  He added, "We hope that this research will act as a catalyst for governments, industry, communities and individuals to recognize the weather risks we are facing and to enter discussions about how to reduce their effects on Canadians' lives and communities."

Robinson went on to say, "Insurers are seeing the financial impacts of severe weather first-hand.    Canadians are already witnessing the impact of severe weather in terms of lost lives and injuries, families displaced from their homes, and towns that are devastated."....

A big tree down in Stanley Park in Vancouver, public domain