Reducing Canada's vulnerability to climate change: a new research program of Natural Resources Canada

There is broad scientific consensus that anthropogenically enhanced climate change is underway, that its impacts will be particularly pronounced in northern areas and that, regardless of the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation measures, future climate changes will occur due to the inertia of the climate system. The Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada initiated a new program aimed at providing knowledge that will help Canadians to cope with adverse consequences of, and to benefit where possible, from the impacts of climate change on Canada's landmass. The fundamental goals are to improve the scientific understanding of the impacts of past, present, and future climate variability and change on Canada's landmass and the coastal zone, of associated costs, and of the implications for adaptation options; and to ensure this information is used to better prepare Canadians for the future. The program utilizes geoscience and geomatics techniques and expertise to observe, analyse or model the sensitivity of Canada's cryosphere (glaciers and permafrost), ecosystems (carbon, water, energy cycles) and coasts (coastal dynamics and sea level rise) to climate variability and change. Spatially, program activities address questions at national, regional or local/municipal levels. The time domain of interest spans the last 18000 years and the next 20- 100 years. The key scientific questions are formulated within the following streams: monitoring and analysis; GHG sinks and sources; processes; scenarios; and costs/ adaptation options. Explicit linkages with stakeholders and users of scientific information have been established to achieve effectiveness of the research results.