Above: A team of researchers is pinpointing an exact year when the world’s climate will start to change. They say the tropics will feel it first, but Canada won’t be far behind. Mike Drolet reports.
In just 34 years, Canadians could be living in a very different country. Winter as we know it could disappear, and the hottest weather experienced today will become the coldest, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.
While the information contained in the study performed at the University of Hawaii is alarming, it’s not quite the end of the world, says one co-author.
“It’s far from the end of the world, but we are heading into unprecedented climates,” Abby Frazier said in an interview on The West Block with Tom Clark,
The effects of climate change will begin in the tropics before heading toward cooler climates, the study suggests.
“Kingston, Jamaica is projected by 2023, and there are multiple cities that are expected to experience these climates within the next decade,” Frazier said.
If humans can curb greenhouse gas emissions, however, the date can be pushed back about two decades, she said.
“The analogy I like to use is, if you’re about to get into an accident on the highway, you don’t want to step on the gas. You want to step on the brakes,” Frazier said. “It’s better to have an accident at 20 miles an hour than at 80. What we need to do now is step on the brakes and try to slow this rapid climate change.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokeswoman with Environment Canada said the department is familiar with this study.
“It is based on credible science using an ensemble of climate models, including Canada’s Earth system model,” the statement reads. The statement goes on to list some actions the government has taken against climate change, including it’s ongoing sector-by-sector approach to regulating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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