Climate in Canada

The Prairies:

The Carbon Cycle:

In the prairies, carbon is mostly stored underground in plant roots which along with soil, is where it builds up. The soil acts as a carbon sink which allows it to hold a large amount of carbon. This way of storage lets the soil store lots of carbon in a safe, natural, and reliable way as well as support the prairies ecosystem. Other processes the carbon moves through in the image include adding carbon to the atmosphere through respiration from plants, marine organisms, and animals. Carbon can also add to the atmosphere through diffusion from the water. This also works the other way where the carbon moves from the atmosphere back into the water. There is as well photosynthesis that moves carbon into the biosphere through the plants and lastly, sedimentary rocks are made from carbon (taking in carbon). These are processes that are visible in the image above.

Effects of Climate Change in the Prairies:

The Canadian prairies are predicted to face new impacts of climate change as the decades come such as weather extremes, food production, transportation, and more. During the summer in the prairies, it is thought to become more dry and warm with heatwaves increasing. Winter and spring will be warmer and wetter with the possibility of spring flooding occurring more often.  As mentioned previously, weather extremes are predicted to increase as well as be more intense. For the prairies, this includes longer droughts, floods, rainstorms heatwaves, and severe storms. All of these effects from climate change can cause a ripple effect on other factors in the prairies such as food production, water, and habitat. Because of long and hotter periods, there is a potential for an increase in pests and invasive species (which could possibly threaten biodiversity). It also could affect the growth of certain crops in both positive and negative ways which affects food production. The dry conditions can affect water sources, animals, plants, and aquatic species (things people who live there need). There are as well other things to consider such as delayed transportation when railways and southern roads can be damaged from flooding and erosions and the cost to repair them. The health of people in the prairies can be threatened as well, for example, warmer temperatures can increase secondary pollutants and heat-related illnesses. As for communities, those who depend on well water could be at risk in the cases of intense droughts. More money will be spent on road repairs, storm drains, and flood protection in communities as well from the damages climate change affected. Lastly, Indigenous communities could face health concerns and have to depend on imported food because of the lack of availability in moose, deer, caribou, and fish. The list of impacts on the prairies due to climate change is very long but, the number of causes doesn’t compare. Greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide) are a big cause of climate change for the prairies. An example is the impact of the oil sands, where during these operations pollutants are released that are harmful to the environment and human health. The emissions from oil sand extraction contribute to global warming as well. From all these impacts and projections, we can only see the prairies are going to get worse in terms of the effects of climate change and action has to be done quickly to reduce them.

Sources:

https://www.prairiesrac.com/climate-impacts/

https://www.parc.ca/saskadapt/cc-research-highlights/ccia-research-world.html

https://tallgrassontario.org/wp-site/carbon-sequestration/#:~:text=In%20prairie%20grasslands%20a%20large,as%20a%20%E2%80%9Ccarbon%20sink%E2%80%9D.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=97dec6313b7147a481516ab6aeb71da3#:~:text=The%20influence%20warming%20temperatures%20and,of%20forest%20fires%20will%20increase.

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Environmental_impacts_of_oil_sands#:~:text=These%20emissions%20contribute%20to%20global%20warming%20and%20the%20enhanced%20greenhouse%20effect.&text=Air%20Quality%20Impacts%3A%20Along%20with,such%20as%20NOx%20and%20SOx.