The Impact of Climate Change and Global Warming in Quebec: A Research Essay

Québec is intensely affected by climate change and global warming because it is increasing the number and intensity of the natural disasters, increasing damage to the infrastructure, thawing of permafrost in a Northern Québec, the future crops stability and maintenance, and the changes in biodiversity all over Québec. One of the deadliest and costly impacts are the increase in number and intensity of natural disasters, predominantly tornadoes and snow/ice storms.

According to the Québec Government, the most common natural disasters are tornadoes and snow/ice storms. As more water vapor is evaporated into the atmosphere, it becomes fuel for more powerful storms and tornadoes to develop. To recover from such natural disasters costs billions of dollars. Citizens have to deal with the destruction of assets (houses and transportation) from the initial impact of the tornado, such as roads, power and phone lines, crops, factories, homes, and natural resources. The worst loss they have to deal with is the loss of human lives, which is also a possible result of deadly tornadoes and storms that happens a lot in Québec.

Storms also affect other man-made assets such as roads and highways.

The increased freezing and thawing of roads and paths is damaging road surfaces. There is no stopping the freezing water from damaging the pavements from the inside out. During the summer or spring, warming weather re-melts the ice, allowing the water to move deeper into the newly expanded crack, only to freeze and expand again during the next cycle, during winter.

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Typically, the cost tends to be about $2 to $2.50 per square foot or $1,000 to $1,300 for a 500-square foot area. This comes out of the citizens’ paycheck and tax. Something that also affects the stability of roads, as well as buildings and airstrips, is the thawing of permafrost in Northern Québec. When permanently frozen dirt or soil melts, the bacteria trapped inside becomes active again, munching through whatever organic material is in reach, and produce carbon dioxide and methane, which are both powerful greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases also negatively affect crops and dairy farms. Québec is known for its plentiful dairy farms and field crops. Since global warming is affecting the amount of rainfall, the crops are dying and there will be fewer crops annually. The reason that plants are negatively affected by too much water is that plants need to breathe. They breathe through their roots and when there is too much water, the roots cannot take in gases. It is actually slowly suffocating when there is too much water for a plant. This can also cause a decline in species count. Along the lines of species decline, climate change is also affecting the biodiversity in Québec. In this biodiverse province, there is an abundance of many species, but sadly due to climate change and man’s contribution to it has caused many species become threatened and extirpated(not found in Canada but elsewhere). Such as the threatened Polar Bear and its struggle with the increasing temperatures.

The habitats are decreasing by the years as the temperatures increase. According to the U.S. government, there is a high estimated risk of future decline due to climate change. Certain types of exotic or harmful plant species are also beginning to appear in Quebec, also known as invasive species. This trend is likely to intensify over the years if the government does not do something about it. The rapid spread of ticks carrying Lyme disease in southern Québec is an accurate example. Researchers also caution that the public should focus on not letting local endangered species to become extinct because they cannot find a suitable habitat. Overall, Québec will have many downfalls in the next years due to climate change, such as the number and intensity of natural disasters, the increasing damage to infrastructure, the thawing of permafrost in Northern Québec, future crops stability and maintenance, and the changes in biodiversity all over Québec.