| LOCAL NEWS | |  |
|
 |
|
| Last updated at 12:42 AM on 08/01/08 |
Ottawa must do further studies on how rising sea levels will affect P.E.I.: Downe 
WAYNE THIBODEAU
The Guardian
A Prince Edward Island senator is urging Ottawa to do more research on the impacts of rising sea levels in Prince Edward Island.
Senator Percy Downe says the last study, entitled Coastal Impacts of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise on Prince Edward Island, was done in June 2001. That report indicated the province would be directly affected by flooding in Charlottetown and other areas of the Island.
“The importance of up-to-date research on this issue cannot be understated,” Downe said Monday.
“The potential impacts of rising sea levels and climate change on Prince Edward Island are not only important for those residing in low-lying areas, but it is also expected that climate change will have a drastic impact on many of the province’s vital economic sectors. Fisheries, agriculture and tourism will most certainly be negatively affected by climate change.”
The 2001 report raised alarm bells across Prince Edward Island. It said storm surges were going to become more frequent and more violent.
The 1,000-page report said sea levels in Charlottetown may rise by close to three-quarters of a metre over the next 100 years, nearly double the rate recorded since the early 1900s.
It also predicted erosion rates along the north shore of Prince Edward Island would double by 2100.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird, in a letter to Downe, said his department has participated in two significant studies in the past five years. He said the first study focused on two small areas of coastline in P.E.I.
But Baird did not commit to further studies into rising sea levels on the Island.
“Environment Canada recognizes the threat that climate change poses to the environment and Canadians, including residents of Atlantic Canada,” said Baird.
“Based on research by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1998, we know that a significant area of Atlantic coastline is sensitive to sea-level rise, and residents are at risk due to impacts such as increased coastal inundation and erosion.”
The 2001 report identified more than 460 properties that could be at risk of flooding in and near downtown Charlottetown if a storm surge the size of the one that hit P.E.I. in 2000 were to occur.
The areas at greatest risk include most of the capital city's waterfront, including such properties as the Delta Prince Edward, the access road to the QEH, all of Victoria Park and more than 30 municipally designated heritage properties. If that same storm surge was to happen at higher sea levels, the area at risk would increase substantially — leaving a swath of destruction and more than $200 million in property damages in 2001 dollars.
|
08/01/08
|
|
Primetime Tonight
|
|
|
1
