Practical Climate Change
Our climate is changing. For better or worse (definitely worse) we are changing it, and it is clear that we’re not going to like it, going forward.
The NCC has released a commissioned report about how climate change will affect the tourism sector in Ottawa. The results are shocking.
Models predict up to 20 days less skating within 15 years. The tulips will be blooming as early as mid-April (well before the May long weekend of the Tulip Festival).
Perhaps most shocking: the possibility of total loss of cross-country skiing in Gatineau Park by 2050. The “good” scenario is 50% fewer skiing days. By 2020 we will likely not be able to hold the Keskinada Loppet international ski event (requires 15 cm base).
Downhill seasons are significantly reduced too, and huge quantities of additional snowmaking would be needed to avoid total disaster. That snowmaking would likely not be economically viable.
I don’t know about you, but given the amount of snow we get in Gatineau Park, it’s quite horrifying to imagine no skiing…
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