Protected Areas – A Natural Solution to Climate Change

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a Special Report on Global Warming that stated we only have 12 years to offset the worst effects of climate change by limiting warming to 1.5 °C. Unfortunately, in Alberta, we have already experienced this amount of warming over the past 100 years. According to Richard Schneider, a biological researcher with the University of Alberta, our province’s mean annual temperature is actually expected to rise by more than 4°C by the end of the century with our current levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

We know that the rise in temperature will disrupt the water cycle and contribute to severe weather events like floods, droughts, wildfires and severe storms but perhaps a lesser known result of climate change is the impact that these events, combined with a warmer and drier atmosphere, will have on the very landscapes that have surrounded us our entire lives. 

Most Albertans take pride in the beautiful biodiversity that makes up our province. We are truly blessed with a wide variety of natural regions from the parklands surrounding Edmonton to the grasslands in the south, the boreal in the north and the mountains and foothills out west. But, as Schneider outlines in his 2013 report, Alberta’s Natural Subregions Under a Changing Climate: Past, Present and Future, many of these landscapes are at risk.

As the climate begins to warm and water evaporates from our soils, our ecosystems will begin to shift northward; the grasslands, parklands and dry mixed wood forests will expand across the province and we will lose large swaths of our beloved boreal, the largest intact forest left on our planet. 

These changing landscapes have significant implications for the wildlife inhabiting them. Many plants and animals will need to shift their distributions north in order to keep up with their preferred habitat, food sources, and climatic conditions.  Lands will also become more homogeneous, leading to a decrease in overall biodiversity across Alberta. 

In order to adapt to this changing environment we need to protect it.

Parks and protected areas offer one of the cheapest and most effective solutions for climate change. Having protected areas in place as climate corridors and climate refugia (places that are naturally resilient to climate change) will help wildlife survive climate change as they migrate or adapt to their new home.  

Parks also protect our forests, which play a vital role in the fight against climate change, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. We all know that forests also help to reduce emissions by absorbing and storing carbon in our atmosphere but did you know a single tree can store as much as 48 pounds of carbon in one year? That’s equal to the amount of carbon produced after charging your smartphone 2,776 times! However, as these trees die off or are cut down, they will release any stored carbon into the atmosphere, adding to greenhouse gas emissions; therefore,  protecting what is left of our forests is of the utmost importance.

Forests also help prevent some of the worst effects of climate change like droughts and floods by acting as a sponge, taking in moisture from excess precipitation in spring and slowly releasing it throughout the year and into the hot dry summers.

By preserving our land, we are not only safeguarding our water and biodiversity, but also our communities and future. Protected areas offer a natural solution that requires little effort but can greatly enhance social and ecological resilience. 

Of course, fighting climate change is a monumental task that requires all kinds of efforts – there’s no getting around that. As individuals, we are encouraged to recycle, compost, turn off the lights – actions that help us live more sustainably, but have little large-scale impact. Although these small-scale actions should not be taken for granted, there is so much more opportunity for people to make a difference. The collective power of individuals in influencing major, large-scale change has been systematically underestimated, but the opportunity to get involved and make your voice heard is there. It’s up to us to take a stand for our planet and our future.

In fact, such an opportunity exists right now.

The Bighorn Country proposal recently put forth by the Alberta government would create a system of new protected areas in the mountain and foothill regions  - a positive step forward for climate change mitigation and resilience. 
As the source of 90% of the drinking water for downstream communities along the North Saskatchewan, including Edmonton, protecting this region would ensure that our water remains clean and secure. It would also allow migrating wildlife to adapt to ecological change, protect our communities by mitigating droughts and floods, and give people have spaces to get out and connect with nature.

So what are you waiting for? Help make a difference in the fight against climate change by voicing your support for more protected areas, including the Bighorn proposal, today!

Read more about the proposal and fill out the online public consultation survey at www.talkaep.alberta.ca/bighorn-country.

Photos by Chris Sargent

This post was submitted by Cala Jorgensen and Nikki Paskar, Edmonton community members. If you live in Edmonton and have a climate change story to tell, let us know! Your story could be shared here too.