Climate Change In Bon Echo Region

Aug 14, 2013

In a talk at the amphitheater in Bon Echo Provincial park on August 10, Dr. Robert McLeman, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo and partner at the Environmental Research Laboratory at Ottawa University, spoke on the subject of climate change in the Bon Echo Region.

McLeman has been doing research in the Bon Echo area on the subject since 2007, and his talk was surprisingly upbeat given the tendency of discussions on the topic to quickly descend into divisive arguments, accusations and doom and gloom scenarios. While McLeman did cite the statistics that demonstrate how in the last 150 years the average global temperature has increased by one degree Celsius and how that poses both positive and negative affects to various local industries in the area, he tended to focus more on the research that he been carrying out in the Bon Echo region, specifically on “the relationship between humans and the natural environment and how changes in human systems can cause reactionary changes in the natural environment and vice-versa”.

McLeman said he was drawn to study the Bon Echo region due to its rich diversity of ecosystems, which he said have been intact on and off since the time of European contact. McLeman was also attracted to the area by its unique typography and because many bigger urban areas are directly affected by what happens in the region, since so many river systems in the area travel downstream - in the west to the Bay of Quinte and in the east to the Ottawa River.

He outlined the demographics of the area, which has a population that tends be older and relies primarily on seasonal economies, mostly based on construction, retail, tourism and small scale forestry. He explained how climate trends for the region will affect these industries. One graph showed how the current global climate is currently in a relatively warmer phase compared to phases over the last 450,000 years. Another graph showed that the average global temperature during the last 150 years has risen by one degree Celsius. To show how dramatic a change that one degree can make, he explained that outdoor ice rinks require an average daily temperature of -5 degrees Celsius to exist.

What's causing the increase? “A lot of scientists believe it is a result of increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which dramatically increased in the mid 1800's when we began burning fossil fuels.” McLeman said that the climate of the Bon Echo region today is more similar to what it was like 1000 years ago compared to 150 years ago. He explained how this information was obtained through his recent research, which involved taking sediment core samples from numerous lakes and ponds in the area.

He also explained how reading the pollen levels in the samples shows what kinds of trees were growing in the area at different times, which in turn can tell scientists about temperatures over time. “One thousand years ago it was relatively warm here, so trees like hemlock and beech were very common. In the 1850s the forest was more like that of northern Ontario; white pine was plentiful and it was harvested and shipped to Europe. If the Europeans had been looking for white pine here 1000 years ago they would not have found it.” He continued, “If we continue to see the temperatures change as they have been, we'll probably see better conditions for trees species like hemlock, beech and other warmer tree species that you see in places like Guelph, Ontario."

This led McLeman to wonder just what kind of trees should be replanted in the forest in this area given the climate trends that we now see taking place. “Now as it stands under Ontario law the companies that cut down the trees here do so under a sustainable forest management basis and one of the things they are told to do after harvesting is to try to 'return the forest to what it was like before Europeans came to this part of the world'"

The problem is how far back in time should they go? “With the way things are going now, we should be trying to plant forests the way it was here 1000 years ago, when temperatures were warmer compared to how it was 150 years ago when it was colder.” McLeman also explained shorter term climate changes which are trending towards shorter winters, earlier springs and less snow. Local maple syrup producers, particularly one outfit near Flinton, have been keeping sap running records since the 1950s and they show this particular trend. Summers on the other hand are becoming hotter and dryer and McLeman explained that these trends, depending on the particular industry, can pose both positive and negative aspects.

McLeman then highlighted the fact that climate change has both good and bad aspects and said the reason it matters here in Bon Echo is because people's lives and livelihoods here depend greatly on the climate, “much more so than the lives of city folk.” Some changes are good for some industries. Longer, warmer summers and shorter winters would allow contractors and real estate agents to work longer in the year and the older population would have less snow to remove. Negative effects like lake ice dangers, bad snowmobiling conditions, more expensive road maintenance due to increased thaws and freezes in the winter months and a shorter wood harvesting season for foresters are some of the negatives.

Hotter, longer summers are great for summer tourism but stronger winds and bigger storms can also be negatives. He spoke of the opportunities for adaptation that climate change poses in the area. “In general, climate change may seem bad overall but when you get bad news you have two options- you can cry, grumble complain and argue endlessly about it or else you can be prepared and look for new opportunities. This is what we researchers do. We work with the local communities and tell them what is going on in the hopes that can find new opportunities and so that they can continue to be successful and make the necessary changes they need to adapt to it.”