Tip sheet: Start identifying local climate impacts

You may have already done some groundwork by considering local climate changes, setting boundaries for your project, figuring out what information you have and what you still need, and bringing together people with the right skills. With this preparatory work in place, you will want to start identifying the climate impacts in your area.

Tip: If you have not done this preparatory work or are about to start it, read Tip sheet: Start preparing for climate risk assessment and adaptation plan.

This tip sheet will help you answer:

• How can we use national or regional climate information to understand climate change in our local area?
• What climate hazards are relevant to my community right now? And how might they change in the future?
• How will different people and parts of my community be affected by climate change?

Getting started

Understand local climate changes

This means connecting climate information to events like extreme heat, heavy rainfall, flooding, drought and sea-level rise.

How can you identify and understand the climate changes relevant to your community?

Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Identify local climate information.

Your assessment will likely include two types of climate information: qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative information typically includes historical and future weather and climate data as well as numerical likelihood and impact scores, while qualitative information typically includes information acquired through experience and observation.

ClimateData.ca has a glossary of key terms that can help you identify and interpret information about local climate impacts.

Both types of climate information are available from many different sources and at various scales, ranging from international to local scales. While it’s important to keep the broader climate change context in mind, your focus should be on how your local climate is changing and will continue to change. Resources like ClimateData.ca and Climate Atlas of Canada can help by providing downscaled climate information specific to your location. You might also already have climate information on hand; for example, operations staff may have recorded information about your community’s response to past climate events such as floods or wildfires.

The Climate Atlas of Canada has Indigenous map layers with climate data for First Nations, Inuit communities and Métis homelands. It also provides resources to learn about Indigenous knowledges and climate change. You can find more on the Climate Atlas of Canada’s page about Indigenous knowledges.

 

At this stage, you should also identify which community members you will seek information from and how. For example,

• engaging local and regional First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals, communities and organizations according to their engagement protocols
• hosting community dinners for urban Indigenous people
• conducting interviews with local businesses
• facilitating focus-group sessions with representatives from local organizations such as advocacy groups and volunteer organizations
• conducting an online survey to gather input from the public

2. Interpreting local climate change information

Processing large amounts of climate change information can be overwhelming. To make sense of it, look at what the data says about past and future key climate indicators within various categories. For example:

• indicators related to temperature: mean summer temperature, the number of days above a specified temperature threshold, the length of a frost-free season
• indicators related to precipitation: number of days with a rainfall amount above a specified precipitation threshold, maximum amount of precipitation in a single day, number of consecutive dry days
• indicators related to sea ice: total area of sea ice, proportion of sea ice area made up of multi-year sea ice

More climate indicators are outlined and discussed in the Government of Canada’s page about climate indicators.

Patterns in these climate indicators are used to describe climate hazards. The process you use will depend on the information you are using and the risk assessment framework you are working within. For example:

Scenario 1: You start by selecting a climate indicator to investigate temperature indicators. 

Using ClimateData.ca, you find and record the historical and projected (future) number of days with temperatures greater than 32 °C and find:

• historical: 0
• future: 3

Your interpretation of this information is that you can expect to see more frequent very hot days. You might decide to record your findings like this:

Climate indicator	In the past, we have experienced…	In the future, we can expect to experience…	Climate hazard	Information source(s)
Temperature	0 days where temperature reaches > 32 °C	3 days where temperature reaches > 32 °C	Extreme heat	ClimateData.ca

 

Scenario 2: You start by identifying a climate hazard relevant to your community.

Your community experienced a flood last year that caused significant infrastructure damage. From conversations with members of the local First Nation, you learn that the local landscape has been changed by flooding numerous times in the past. Using the Climate Atlas of Canada’s climate change map, you see that the amount of rain to fall in your region on the wettest day of the year is expected to increase from 28 mm to 31 mm, an increase of 9 %. You can record your findings like this:

Climate indicator	In the past, we have experienced…	In the future, we can expect to experience…	Climate hazard	Information source(s)
Flooding	28 mm of rain on the wettest day of the year damage to infrastructure by floods landscape changes due to flooding	31 mm of rain on the wettest day of the year	Flooding	local knowledge Climate Atlas of Canada

Understand local climate change impacts

Understanding past, present and future local climate conditions and associated hazards is part of knowing how your community may be impacted by climate change. Various places and people in your community will experience these impacts differently. That means you will need a good understanding of both the climate changes and the unique context and characteristics of your community.

How can you develop an understanding of the impacts climate hazards have on your community in a way that accounts for your community’s unique and diverse characteristics?

Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Identify impact(s) of each climate event.

Identifying the potential impact of a climate event involves asking yourself, “If or when this climate hazard occurs, what will the outcome be?” Some key considerations that will help you answer this question are:

• What and who will be impacted? Identify what and who will be impacted within the scale you have chosen.
• How will it/they be affected? Describe the effect.

Climate hazard	What and who will be impacted?	How will it/they be affected?
Wildfires	Community	The young, elderly, and those living with existing health conditions may experience greater health impacts of smoke inhalation. Those experiencing houselessness may not have access to evacuation support services.
	Environment	Biodiversity loss may occur. Habitat destruction can result from severe climate events.
	Municipal facilities	Evacuation centres may be overwhelmed. Regular municipal functions may not be able to run.

 

2. Characterize the identified impacts.

For each climate impact, it can be helpful to describe some characteristics. For example, is the climate impact:

• Indirect or direct?
  • direct impacts: These are immediate consequences of a climate hazard. For example, the direct impact of extreme heat could be heatstroke and dehydration.
  • indirect impacts: These are secondary effects that occur because of the direct impacts. For example, an indirect impact of flooding could be the disruption of supply chains due to damaged transportation infrastructure.
• Positive or negative?
  • negative impacts: They harm the physical boundaries, service areas and/or thematic components within your established scale. For example, the negative impacts of sea-level rise could be coastal erosion and loss of animal habitat.
  • positive impacts: They can benefit the physical boundaries, service areas and/or thematic components within your established scale. For example, a positive impact of warmer temperatures is an extended growing season for certain crops.

There are many ways to organize this information. What is most important is that the approach you take works for your organization. ICLEI’s Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation Worksheet 6(b) offers a good start for a community-level assessment outline.

Next steps

Once you have identified climate impacts in your community, you will be in a good position to assess climate risks and select the best course of action for your community. For support on getting started with this next phase of work, read Tip sheet: Start assessing your local climate risks.

Explore the Climate-Ready Communities Assessment Tool for additional insight and support in identifying local climate impacts. You can use the tool to evaluate your existing climate adaptation efforts, pinpoint areas for improvement and chart a clear plan for strengthening your community’s adaptation efforts.