As stated by the IPCC’S 2013 report, human emissions and activities have caused 100% of the observed warming, since 1950. For example, every time a fossil fuel (i.e., coal, oil, & gas) is burned to heat and power the billions of homes, businesses, and cars across the world- a gas called carbon dioxide gets produced and released into our atmosphere. This eventually causes a warming, or “greenhouse effect” to occur on our Earth.
"Scientific evidence for warming of the climate is unequivocal." - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Why Does Climate Action Matter?
Human-induced climate change has already caused observable effects in Thunder Bay, as seen through prolonged heat-waves, torrential rainstorms, rising Great Lakes temperatures, and droughts over the last few decades:
Rising temperatures = warmer lakes & oceans. Our lakes and oceans absorb most of Earth's excess heat and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), ultimately causing their temperatures to increase.
A recent analysis suggests that Lake Superior’s summer temperatures have increased by 3.5 degrees Celsius over the last century alone. This surpasses the average global lake warming rate by a threefold.
Extreme weather events such as torrential rainstorms, prolonged heatwaves, and excessive droughts have become more prominent in Thunder Bay over the last few decades, causing extreme snow, drought, and rainfall conditions in our area.
Understanding the impacts of this data can help us to address the expected changes they will cause. By taking bold, urgent action- we can help to mitigate these effects in our region, and strengthen our adaptive capacity as a community!
Taking Action in Thunder Bay
Here are some ways you can take action against climate change in our community:
Educatingourselvesand others is the first major step to taking action against climate change. Take a look at Climate Change TBay’s locally relevant collection of resources on the current impacts of climate change in our community, climate research and a detailed list of solutions and actions to take.
Transportation is one of the greatest contributions to anthropogenic GHG emissions. Investing in greener transportation options such as a City of Thunder Bay Public Transit pass, electric-powered bikes or cars, carbon offsets for flying, or participating in EcoSuperior’s Active Transportation programming are all great options for reducing our impacts locally!
Did you know that eating a plant-based diet can reduce GHG emissions? Similarly, growing your own food, or choosing to buy local foods from the Tbay Country Market or Roots to Harvest can be equally as rewarding! Additionally, Tbay in Season’s Get Fresh Guide is a great tool for finding local growers, producers, and markets in our area.
Make your home resilient to climate change! Whether you get a home energy audit done from EcoSuperior, plant more trees, invest in solar energy, a compost bin, install a rain garden, or a buy a rain barrel for water harvesting- your home will be well prepared for any changes that come your way.
Thunder Bay Climate Change Connectors Group Fact sheets
Created by change-driven activists from our community, click below to see a range of climate action fact sheets with a Thunder Bay focus:
