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Climate Change and Canada’
Canada’ss
National Park System
The David Suzuki Foundation was an official reviewer of the new Environment Canada and
Parks Canada report, Climate Change and Canada’s National Park System. The following
material, prepared by the Foundation, contains highlights from the report.
Decades of conser
vation work could be destr
oyed by global war
ming
conservation
destroyed
warming
Climate change will dramatically alter many of
Canada’s 39 majestic national parks, according
to a new report by Environment Canada and
Parks Canada.
areas may not be able to safeguard their survival.
The congress also stressed government action is
needed to help slow global warming.
What is climate change?
From the untouched wilderness of the Yukon’s
remote Ivvavik National Park to the stunning
fjords, glacial lakes and stunted forests of Newfoundland’s rugged Gros Morne National Park,
climate change has the potential to erode decades
of conservation efforts in Canada. In fact, 31 of the
39 parks are expected to move out of their
ecoclimatic zones.
Several plant and animal species may face extinction and forest fires and drought could become
more common under modeled scenarios. As
temperatures increase and seasons change, southern non-native species are likely to invade our
forests, rivers, valleys, mountains and lakes,
threatening the future of Canada’s national parks.
In Parks Canada’s 1997 State of the National Parks
report, climate change was, even then, identified as
a stressor causing significant ecological impacts in
seven parks.
The new preliminary study suggests the effects of
climate change will increase in all of the country’s
national parks, including those already under
severe stress. Protecting these areas and minimizing damage will be an unparalleled challenge.
The findings of the federal study are similar to
those of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s 4th World Congress on National
Parks and Protected Areas. It concluded that
climate change presents an urgent threat to all
ecosystems and species and that existing protected
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Naturally occurring gases in the Earth’s atmosphere (including carbon dioxide, methane and
nitrous oxide) trap heat radiated from the planet’s
surface and atmosphere. This produces a natural
greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm
enough to sustain life. However, human activities,
particularly the burning of fossil fuels such as oil,
coal and gas, cause large increases of these gases,
dramatically increasing the temperature of our
atmosphere and oceans. The result is climate
change and it is impacting our national parks and
the plants and animals inside them.
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As temperatures increase, Canada can expect
hotter, drier summers and more extreme
weather events, including severe flooding, ice
storms and drought.
Glaciers in Banff National Park are melting and
some could disappear in less than 20 years.
Forest fires are expected to become more
frequent and intense in Ontario’s national
parks and drought threatens to devastate
prairie parks.
The rising sea level is expected to alter the
dune system, mudflats, salt marshes and
estuaries in Atlantic parks compromising an
essential habitat for endangered shorebirds.
Climate change is already having significant
effects in Canada’s north. Polar bears living in
Wapsuk National Park in the Northwest
Territories are suffering as changing weather
patterns disrupt their feeding habits. As a
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result, the traditional hunting patterns of
aboriginal people will break down.
In some areas of Canada’s Arctic, the average
temperature is expected to rise an astounding
12 degrees by 2050.
While studying the impact of climate change,
Parks Canada divided its 39 national parks into six
broad geographic regions: Atlantic, Great Lakes St. Lawrence, Prairie, Western Mountain, Pacific
and Arctic. An overview of the potential impacts
on national parks in each of the six regions follows.
Atlantic Parks
As the climate warms, rising sea levels will have
greater ecological consequences in this region than
anywhere else in the country. Kejimkujik,
Kouchibouguac and PEI National Parks can
expect changes to the tidal flats, which provide
essential habitat for migratory shorebirds, including the endangered piping plover. In other areas,
there is a high likelihood of coastal erosion and
salt-water invasion into fresh water areas. That
may cause the degradation of important marine,
dune, tidal pool, salt marsh and estuary habitats.
Nova Scotia’s Aspy Bay is expected to become
permanently flooded or become a low marsh
environment. Increased storm intensity would give
climate change a larger role in disturbing vegetation and affecting its recovery – switching from
boreal to temperate and mixed forests.
Parks include: Cape Breton Highlands National
Park, Forillon National Park, Fundy National
Park, Gros Morne National Park, Kejimkujik
National Park, Kouchibouguac National Park,
Mingan Archipelago National Park, Prince Edward
Island National Park, Terra Nova National Park.
Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Basin Parks
Decreasing water levels and increasing water
temperatures are expected to be among the most
serious climate change effects in the region. Water
levels are expected to drop dramatically to record
low levels as a result of accelerated evaporation.
Levels could decline as much as 1.3 metres and
water temperature could increase by as much as
three degrees. In Point Pelee National Park,
known around the world as a refuge for hundreds
of species of birds, the wetland marshes may
partially dry, threatening rare species such as the
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rose swamp mallow and spotted turtles. Nesting
sites for waterfowl will become more accessible to
predators and fish species will be threatened as a
result of surface water temperature increases. Fire
frequency and intensity is expected to increase in
four of Ontario’s five national parks. The loss of
mature forests will reduce the habitat for species
such as moose and woodland caribou that thrive in
Pukaskwa National Park. A warmer climate will
also contribute to the migration of non-native
species from the south as native species move
northward out of park boundaries, losing protection.
Parks include: Bruce Peninsula National Park,
Georgian Bay Islands National Park, La Mauricie
National Park, Point Pelee National Park,
Pukaskwa National Park, St. Lawrence Islands
National Park.
Prairie Parks
The Prairie provinces are expected to experience
the greatest temperature increase due to climate
change after the Arctic. Because of this, there will
be greater rates of evaporation, drier soils and
more drought. Stream flows may decrease and
some permanent streams will become intermittent.
Water temperatures in rivers and streams are
expected to increase. Fish, wetlands and waterfowl
will be severely affected. Prince Albert National
Park is home to the second largest waterfowl
breeding area in Canada – lower lake levels would
expose many nesting sites to predators. A wetland
of major significance, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in
Wood Buffalo National Park, contains the world’s
only natural breeding ground for the endangered
whooping crane. The Peace-Athabasca is one of
the world’s largest freshwater deltas and serves as
the resting area or breeding ground for more than
400,000 migrating waterfowl that land here every
fall and spring. Wood Buffalo also supports vast
stretches of grasses and marsh plants used by bison
as a grazing ground. Increased drought conditions
could also result in frequent and intense forest fires
in many northern areas. This would fragment the
forest, particularly old-growth forests, and lead to
grassland expansion. Boreal forests would need to
shift as much as 100 to 700 kilometres to the north
to survive, which may not be possible. Species
such as woodland caribou, the burrowing owl and
black-tailed prairie dog colonies are threatened by
such changes.
Parks include: Elk Island National Park,
Grasslands National Park, Prince Albert National
Park, Riding Mountain National Park, Wood
Buffalo National Park.
Wester
n Mountain Parks
estern
Forty-one plant species in Banff National Park will
be particularly vulnerable to climate change
impacts. Many species would be unable to adapt
and would become extinct with a resulting loss of
biodiversity. A projected increase in precipitation
during below freezing winter temperatures means
snow packs will increase. Deeper snow will force
deer and elk to migrate further down valley to find
food throughout the winter, where they are at a
greater risk of being killed by cars and trains.
Lower level glaciers will rapidly retreat. Warmer
spring and fall temperatures could cause longer
glacial melting seasons – glaciers less than 100
metres thick could disappear over the next 20
years. The accelerated glacial run-off would also
release pollutants that have been trapped in the
glacial ice and snow during the last century in
sufficient quantities to seriously affect downstream
aquatic ecosystems.
Parks include: Banff National Park, Glacier National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park,
Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park,
Nahanni National Park, Waterton Lakes National
Park, Yoho National Park.
Pacific Parks
The projected 3.5 degree increase in sea surface
temperatures in the northeast Pacific over the next
50 years may be the most important ecological
effect on the marine, coastal and riverine ecosystems of the region’s national parks. Warmer waters
could lead to increasing frequency and distribution
of red tides, as well as encourage southern species
such as mackerel and albacore tuna to move north
and compete with salmon populations. Warmer
waters will affect the spawning and migration of
salmon, encouraging their northward migration,
which in turn will disrupt the feeding habits of
bears and bald eagles. In Kluane National Park
Reserve, southerly plant and animal species will
migrate into the park, as conditions become milder
and montane, subalpine and alpine communities
will shift upslope. In Gwaii Haanas National Park,
montane spruce and alpine tundra areas will be
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significantly affected by projected temperature and
rainfall increases.
Parks include: Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, Kluane National Park Reserve, Pacific Rim
National Park Reserve.
Ar
ctic Parks
Arctic
Ecosystems in Canada’s Arctic parks are the most
vulnerable to global warming and the magnitude
of projected climate change is highest here.
Warmer temperatures will increase the growing
season for plants and will allow more southerly
species to invade as the permafrost boundaries
move northwards by as much as 500 kilometres.
Changes in vegetation distribution and abundance
will have drastic effects on park wildlife. Tukut
National Park contains rare plant species that will
be subject to rapid change. As ice thickness
shrinks, many sea mammals such as polar bears,
ringed seals, arctic foxes and arctic hares will be
significantly affected. Polar bears need sea ice to
access prey – if they have to stay inland longer or
move north, it will increase nutritional stress levels
and lower reproductive success. Polar bears at
Wapusk National Park are already at the southern
limit of their range. Much of the western Canadian
population of snow geese and sea ducks that use
coastal areas as staging grounds will be forced out
of the park if climate change results in reduced
coastal habitat and/or increased shoreline erosion.
Parks include: Aulavik National Park, Auyuittuq
National Park, Quttinirpaaq (formerly Ellesmere
Island) National Park Reserve, Ivvavik National
Park, Tuktut Nogait National Park, Vuntut National Park, Wapusk National Park.
Recommendations
Climate change has the potential to undermine
decades of efforts to protect, restore and enhance
our national parks.
The David Suzuki Foundation believes the federal
government must take immediate and meaningful
action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow
global warming. Canada must take the lead in the
international effort to implement strong and
binding domestic emissions reduction measures.
At the 4th World Congress on National Parks and
Protected Areas, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) concluded that climate
change “represents a critical and urgent threat to all ecosystems and species.” IUCN also recommended
that governments and international bodies strengthen their efforts to slow down human activities contributing to climate change.
In order to protect our national parks and the ecological integrity of the globe, we must immediately
begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Governments at all levels, industry and individuals will need
to be involved. Fortunately, there are ways to increase energy efficiency and address climate change that
will protect of our national parks and have many health and economic benefits.
But we must act now, as further delay will result in a greater
build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and make
climate stability harder to restore.
Further Resources:
Climate Change: Parks in Peril contains detailed information about climate change
and Canada’s national parks. http://ww.davidsuzuki.org/climate_parksinperil.htm
Power Shift sketches out a path to a future in which Canadians can achieve and
surpass the 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions needed to stabilize global
climate. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/climatereports.htm
Canadian Solutions describes how government, industry and individuals can reduce
emissions through immediate policies that can be implemented to effectively and
affordably to meet Canada’s Kyoto Climate Change Target.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/climatereports.htm
Turning down the Heat, an inspiring showcase of ‘pollution solutions’, speaks of a day
when we no longer have to fear climate change, or breathe air polluted by fossil
fuels. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/energy/index.htm
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