Climate Change in Sudbury

Fall colours in the City of Greater Sudbury - Photo by D. Robb

The City of Greater Sudbury is a bilingual, multicultural, medium sized, geographically and environmentally varied Canadian Shield community where most socio-economic activities are based on natural resources. Twenty five years of economic diversification and the recent amalgamation of several small towns into one municipality have produced a wide range of sectors exposed to the impact of climate, from old growth forest to the largest mining camp in Canada, all within one local political jurisdiction.

In contrast to arctic or coastal communities, cities like Sudbury have been less concerned about climate change than other environmental issues, partly because they have suffered less from climate damage in recent years and there has been little incentive to understand the potential impacts on people's livelihood. However, climate change is already bringing important changes to several climate variables in Sudbury requiring consideration in short and long term planning in several sectors.

Thirty year partnerships between researchers, stakeholders and decision makers have enabled the internationally renowned success of the City's revegetation program, illustrating adaptive capacity in the face of a major environmental challenge (Land Reclamation Timeline). This experience makes Sudbury an excellent test bed for developing strategies, action plans and approaches to adapting to climate change that would be more difficult elsewhere. Environmental awareness and cooperation are heightened by the existence of EarthCare Sudbury, a cluster of ninety seven community partners, from mining corporations to School Boards, the science centre (Science North) and wilderness tourism operators all committed to acting on a comprehensive environmental agenda. Furthermore, the City is revising its Official Plan and is ready to include climate-change related considerations; the city is working on its emergency management plan. The Nickel District Conservation Authority has been mandated to develop source water protection plans for the city's drinking water supply; databases are being developed for groundwater resources; and human and ecological health risk assessments of exposure to several metals in the city to be completed in the fall have developed data bases useful for this project. Several members of the research team have been instrumental in developing C-CIARN Ontario's (Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network) very successful climate change risk assessment workshops for community stakeholders and decision makers.

 
 
 
©2012 Laurentian University | Sudbury ON P3E 2C6 | Canada | 705.675.1151 | 1.800.461.4030 | Contact Us| 46° 27′ 52″, -80° 58′ 05″ | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
Back to top