Alert Bay:
Community
Solutions to
Climate Change
Nygil Goggins
Sally Podmore (Design)
Hanna Eklund (Local Impacts)
How this booklet came to be . . .
This booklet builds on previous work focussed on climate change in Alert Bay.
Here are some of the steps your community has already taken to help prevent and to
adapt to possible impacts of climate change:
2003 – 2005 Snowchange Project:
During this project elders shared information about changes they are noticing in the
climate of Alert Bay.
2006 Adapting to Uncertain Futures Workshop (Phase 1):
At this workshop community members shared information about the impacts of climate
change in Alert Bay. They also talked about ways the community of Alert Bay could
adapt to climate change.
2007 Adapting to Uncertain Futures Workshop (Phase 2):
At this workshop community members talked about the many things the community
had accomplished since the last meeting. One thing that was noticed at this meeting
was that there were not many young people.
2008 Solutions to Climate Change in Alert Bay – School Workshop:
At this workshop students identified possible solutions to climate change in Alert Bay.
The students had many great ideas.
As a result of the student workshop this booklet was created ...
Front Cover Photos: Hanna Eklund
© Simon Fraser University, Continuing Studies in Science
www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science
In This Booklet:
Introduction ................................ 1
What is Climate Change ........... 2
Greenhouse Gases .................. 3
The Greenhouse Effect .............. 4
Sources of Greenhouse
Gases ....................................
5–6
Impacts of Climate Change
in Alert Bay ........................... 7–10
Solutions to Climate Change
in Alert Bay ........................... 11–15
Lighting and Appliances .....
Transportation .......................
Home Heating ......................
Garbage and Recycling .....
12
13
14
15
Conclusion ................................. 16
Acknowledgments .................... 17
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1.
Introduction
This booklet is about adapting
to climate change in Alert Bay.
Important things you will learn
from this booklet:
Information on climate
change and how it is caused
What Elders have to say
about impacts of climate
change in Alert Bay
Solutions to climate change,
and things you can do to help
Photos: Hanna Eklund
Thank you to everyone who helped with this booklet:
Students of the Alert Bay and T’lisalagi’lakw Elementary Schools
Roberta Harris – Alert Bay Elementary School
Chris Kalnay – T’lisalagi’lakw Elementary School
Michael Berry – Councilor, Village of Alert Bay and President, Alby Systems Ltd
Laurie Wood & Patricia Gallaugher – Centre for Coastal Studies at Simon Fraser
University
Kelly Vodden – Department of Geography, Memorial University, Newfoundland
Funding for this project was made available by the Enhancing the Capacity of
Canadian Rural Communities to Adapt to Uncertain Futures project (Natural
Resources Canada).
2.
What is Climate
Change?
To understand what climate
change is, we need to understand
what climate and weather are:
What does climate mean?
Climate is the average weather
for an area over a long time
period. Long time period means
more than 30 years.
OK, then what is weather?
Weather is what you see outside
at a specific time. We have all
described the weather before by
using words like rainy or sunny, hot
or cold, and windy or calm.
What is climate change?
There are two types of climate change:
natural climate change, and climate change
caused by humans.
In this booklet we’ll talk about climate change
caused by humans.This is the negative type of
climate change that you hear about the most.
What is climate change caused by humans?
Remember, climate is just the average
weather over a long time. So when humans
cause it to get warmer or drier over a long
time period, they are causing climate
change.
Climate change can have many negative
impacts. We will talk about some impacts of
climate change in Alert Bay on page 7.
OK, so what is global warming then?
Global warming means that on average the
planet is getting warmer. Most people use the
terms global warming and climate change to
mean the same thing.
Natural climate
change:
Did you know that
over 10 000 years
ago almost all of
Canada was
covered in ice?
OK, so how do humans cause the climate to
change?
Humans cause climate change by releasing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Next
we will talk about the different greenhouse
gases. After that we will talk about the
greenhouse effect and why the earth is
getting warmer.
3.
Greenhouse Gases
So if humans are causing climate
change by releasing greenhouse
gases, what are greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases are gases
that cause the earth to get warmer
because of the greenhouse effect.
We will talk about the greenhouse
effect on the next page.
What are the three most
common greenhouse
gases humans produce?
The answer is:
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Methane (CH4)
Nitrous Oxide (N20)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a very
common gas. Humans and other animals
breathe out carbon dioxide.
Plants use carbon dioxide to create energy
to grow during photosynthesis.
Natural levels of CO2 in the air are
important for life, but too much can cause
the earth’s temperature to increase.
When humans burn fossil fuels, lots of
carbon dioxide is released into the air.
Many scientists believe that the carbon
dioxide produced by human activities is
the main reason our climate is warming.
We use fossil fuels in many different ways:
Driving cars, heating our homes, flying in
airplanes, using electricity, shipping food,
making goods in factories, and many more....
Can you think of more ways we use fossil
fuels?
Did you know there are about 195
countries in the world?
Did you know that Canada produces
more greenhouse gases per person
than almost any of the other 195
countries?
Did you know, methane traps 21 times
more heat than carbon dioxide, and
nitrous oxide traps 310 times more.
Methane and nitrous oxide are two
other greenhouse gases that are made
naturally like carbon dioxide.
Humans are also releasing too much
methane and nitrous oxide into the
atmosphere contributng to climate
change.
Large-scale farming and garbage dumps
produce lots of nitrous oxide and methane.
4.
The Greenhouse Effect
H
Have
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been
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inside a greenhouse
nh s in th
the ssummer
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and noticed that it is much warmer than outside?
The reason that it is warmer in the greenhouse is that the glass on the greenhouse traps some of the heat from the sun’s rays inside.
The earth’s atmosphere acts like a greenhouse trapping heat from the sun
inside. This causes what scientists call the “greenhouse effect”.
Scientists are saying that if we don’t reduce the amount of greenhouse
gases we put into the atmosphere, it will become too warm for many of the
species that inhabit the earth and its oceans.
Here is a picture of how the Greenhouse effect works:
The heat from the sun
shines through the
atmosphere towards
the earth’s surface.
Some heat escapes,
but lots gets trapped
inside, close to the
earth’s surface making
it warmer.
Escaping
Heat
Sunlight
Atmosphere
Trapped
Heat
Without the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect it would be too cold for
life on the planet. But, with too many greenhouse gases it could become
too hot for life on the planet.
We need solutions ... quickly!
First, how do we stop making so many
greenhouse gases?
Let’s find out where they come from.....
It is a very
fine balance
between too few
and too many greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere.
Where Do Greenhouse Gases Come
From?
5.
Most of the greenhouse gases that people
create come from burning fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are forms of energy that were
trapped under the earth’s surface millions
of years ago. Fossil fuels are mined out from
deep under ground. The three main types of
fossil fuels are oil, gas and coal.
Oil and gas come out of the ground in
a liquid or gas form, but coal is solid.
Here is a picture of some of the ways oil and coal get used:
Gasoline for Cars
Oil Products
Diesel Fuel and Heating Oil
Jet Fuel
Heavy Fuel Oil for Ships
Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG)
Other Products
Miners dig coal out
of the ground
Then it gets burned in
a factory (producing
lots of CO2)
CO2
The factory burns coal to
create electricity we use
6.
Why Do We Burn Fossil Fuels?
Remember that carbon dioxide is the greenhouse
gas that people create the most of and creating
more carbon dioxide will make the climate warmer.
Why do we burn fossil fuels and create
greenhouse gases if they are so bad for
the planet?
We burn fossil fuels to create energy.
Why do we need energy?
We need energy for almost everything that we do. Just think
about all of the things you do in a day that need energy.
Turning on the heat in your house
Turning on the lights
Taking a hot shower
Watching TV
Shipping food and keeping it cold in the fridge
Using the toaster or the oven
Heating your lunch or cooking dinner
Driving to school, or taking a ferry
Learning in your classroom
(A classroom uses lights, heat, and more things that take
energy to make like new paper, pencils etc.)
Drinking a pop
(It takes energy to make a can or bottle and keep it cool)
You can see that we use energy for almost everything
in our daily lives. When we use fossil fuels to create
energy, we release greenhouse gases that cause global
warming.
OK, but if we keep creating too many greenhouse gases
is climate change really going to impact Alert Bay?
Let’s see what the elders of Alert Bay had to say...
Impacts of Climate Change
in Alert Bay
7.
The life cycles of animals and plants are linked to the climate.
What are some ways that changes in the climate can affect plants
and animals?
Shorter and warmer
winters can cause
birds to start nesting
before there is food.
Hotter and drier
summers cause stress
to frogs and fish.
Animals and plants are good at adapting to
slow changes in climate. But quick changes
in climate can be bad for plants and
animals. Scientists think that humans are
causing the climate to change too fast. If
the climate changes too fast, some species
could become extinct.
Elders in Alert Bay have been out on the water and in nature all of their
lives. They have observed many changes in the environment.
The following information is from interviews done with elders in
Alert Bay.
”...My garden is the ocean. I don’t grow
anything on land.” (Brian Wadhams)
Photo: Irene Salverda
Photo: Hanna Eklund
8.
Changes in Snow, Ice and Weather
Here in the Alert Bay area, it used to snow more
and the winters used to be colder.
“35 to 40 years ago, we used to get a lot of snow. It
was a regular thing to go sleigh riding, walk through
the snow, have snowball fights, build snowmen, and
you could even build snow forts in the fields…”
(Don Svanvik)
Many elders have noticed that in recent years there is less snow. Eddie
MacDougall, Henry Beans and Douglas Scow say there is less snow on
the mountaintops, and the glaciers are getting smaller in Knight Inlet.
Some elders have observed that the summers have become warmer
and that some plants are blooming earlier.
“Right now the fall and winter have almost traded places with one
another. The berries, that are out in July, are not supposed to be out
until September and October ... Things are changing.” (Stevie Beans)
For the fishermen, weather predicting is a very important skill because
you do not want to get caught in the middle of a storm when you are
out on the water!
Hank Nelson thinks that the weather has become less predictable:
“… the weather is not as easy to
predict as it used to be. It changes
really fast in some cases. And the
winds seem to be getting a lot
stronger and flooding occurs a lot
faster than it used to. It also rains really
hard in the winter months…”
(Hank Nelson)
Photo: Hanna Eklund
Impacts of Climate Change in Alert Bay
9.
Changes in Fishing
“Our Grandparents used to say that
you could walk on the river on top of
the salmon, they were so plentiful!”
(Alfred Coon)
Pacific Salmon are a very
important species for the
people, animals, environment
and economy of Alert Bay.
If the living environment of
the salmon changes,
this will affect other
creatures and people that
depend upon salmon too.
Salmon are very sensitive to changes in
water temperature. Climate change is
causing the streams, rivers and oceans to
get warmer.
Some of the elders have noticed changes
in the numbers of salmon coming into the
area. Elders say that there are less salmon
coming to Alert Bay, and they don’t come
at the same times that they used to come.
Warmer oceans can be bad for fish that have always lived near Alert Bay.
Warmer water also may attract other fish that don’t traditionally live in
these waters. Can you think of how this could be a problem?
New fish species can cause serious problems, like diseases, to the local
animals and environment.
Roy Cranmer has seen sunfish in the area, even though this species usually
lives in warmer waters further South. Alfred Coon also doesn’t remember
seeing porpoises in the area when he was younger, but they are here now.
“Sunfish, porpoises and
mud-sharks are new to the
Alert Bay area.”
10. Impacts of Climate Change in Alert Bay
Changes in Birds and Other Animals
Elders have also noticed changes in the birds and other animals
seen around Alert Bay:
“The hummingbirds are gone. They were around for a
while and now they are gone. There used to be lots of
them!” (Harry Mountain)
They have noticed that some animal species have disappeared from the area.
Douglas Scow has seen fewer robins.
Roy Cranmer says that there used to be more mountain goats.
Alfred Coon and Hank Nelson have noticed that frogs are disappearing.
Alfred Coon has noticed beavers and deer leaving too.
Climate change is not the only reason for disappearing species.
Problems like chemical pollution, acid rain, thinning ozone layer, and
logging can also cause serious problems.
“Where I’m originally from, there were
a lot of frogs that hopped around in the
night. You would walk around and you
would see them ... But the last three times
I’ve been up there, there really aren’t that
many.”
(Hank Nelson)
”We used to have lots of frogs. They are
gone. … And the beavers, they are gone
too. And the deer because of the logging
practices. Everything’s being wiped out.”
(Alfred Coon)
Information from local people in stories and interviews is very important
when studying local environmental changes. Traditional knowledge can
go back in time for hundreds and hundreds of years.
You can help keep the local knowledge alive by observing your own
living environment.
Solutions to Climate Change
in Alert Bay
11.
Elders have pointed out that climate
change may already be having an
negative impact in Alert Bay.
It is true that climate change is a
serious threat to life on the planet.
The good news is that there are
many things we can do to help
prevent climate change.
On January 29th 2008, there was
a workshop on climate change at
the Inner Coast Natural Resource
Centre in Alert Bay. At the workshop students discussed many
solutions for reducing greenhouse
gases and preventing climate
change in Alert Bay.
Twenty-six students in grades four
to seven at the T’lisalagi’lakw,
and Alert Bay Elementary Schools
talked about ways to reduce
greenhouse gases.
Here is what they had to say ...
How can you
reduce greenhouse
gases in Alert Bay?
Think about changes.
Lighting and Appliances
things that switch on
and off
Transportation
the way you get around
Heating
the way you heat your
house and water
Garbage and recycling
12.
Things that switch on
and plug in:
Easy Ways to Save Energy:
Lighting and Appliances
We use electricity in our
homes and schools with lights
and appliances.
To create electricity, we often
need to burn fossil fuels.
Can you think of all the
appliances in your house?
a fridge, a stove, lights,
a computer, a toaster ...
by Aaron
Turn off lights when
you leave a room
Unplug things that are
not being used
Use energy-saving
light bulbs
Turn off lights at night
Did you know
that turning off lights
when you don’t use them
and switching to energysaving light bulbs is a
really good way to save
elecricity in your home?
The way you get
around:
What can you do?
Walk or ride your bike
Transportation
Carpool
We create greenhouse
gases burning fossil fuels to
get from place to place.
Take a bus
Can you think of all the
different ways we use fossil
fuels for transportation?
In cars and trucks, on the
ferry, on air planes, on small
and large boats ...
What about to move things
from place to place?
We also use fossil fuels to
transport things like food,
clothes, and materials from
far away.
13.
Use a hybrid car or use
biodiesel in your car
Buy items that are made
closer to Alert Bay
Grow your own food
14.
The way you heat
your home and water:
Home Heating &
Water Heating
What can you do?
Some ways to use less
energy heating in your
home:
Turn down the heat at
night, or when you are out
Put on a sweater instead
of turning the heat up high
We use energy to heat our
homes and buildings. It also
takes lots of energy to make
hot water for our homes and
buildings.
Use wood-burning heaters
Use solar heating
Use better insulation
Insulate your hot water
tank
Take shorter showers
By
Vince
Turning down the
heat in your house at
night time and when
you’re out can save
a lot of energy!
Anonymous
Student
What do you do with
your waste?
15.
What can you do?
Reduce
Garbage and
Recycling
Reuse
Recycle
Compost
Don’t buy things with lots
of packaging
It also takes energy to deal
with the garbage we create.
Sometimes we need to put
garbage on big ships to move it
away. In some places people burn
their garbage.
Both of these ways of dealing
with waste contribute to climate
change by releasing greenhouse
gases.
By Jesse
Use re-useable containers
for things like lunches and
drinks
Can you think of other
ways to decrease the
amount of garbage you
make?
16.
Conclusion
We now know that climate change is mostly being
caused by humans burning fossil fuels.
Burning fossil fuels creates more greenhouse gases
that can cause the climate to get warmer.
Climate change can negatively impact plants, animals, and people.
In Alert Bay there are already signs of negative impacts from climate
change. Many scientists believe that climate change will be one of the
biggest challenges that humans have to face in the future.
The good news is that there are many solutions
We talked about many of the great solutions created by students right
in Alert Bay. Do you remember the ways that we can all help prevent
climate change?
1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Try and find ways to reduce the
amount of greenhouse gases you create every day.
2. Learn more about climate change: Try and learn more about the
climate. The world needs smart young people like you to help
solve the problem of climate change.
3. Share information about climate change: Not everyone knows as
much about climate change as you do. Share what you know with
friends and family.
4. Get involved: The students who helped create this booklet did a
great job of getting involved. There are many other ways to get
involved at home, at school and in the community!
Alert Bay is finding solutions and ways to adapt to climate change
as a community. Good luck and keep up the great work!
Alert Bay:
Community Solutions to
Climate Change
Acknowledgments
Snowchange would like to thank the
following members of the community,
who were interviewed in 2003 – 2005:
Edgar Landsdowne, Roy Cranmer,
Harry “Cash” Mountain, Charles “Chas”
Coon, Douglas Scow, Thomas “Oxley”
Alfred, Brian Wadhams, Alfred “Baker”
Coon, Eddie “Bones” MacDougall,
Stevie Beans, Henry S. Beans, Henry
“Hank” Nelson and Don Svanvik. Special
thanks also to Irene Salverda from the
Netherlands for the great pictures.
All non-referenced images are from
Microsoft.com clip art, 2007.
Authors Contact Info:
Nygil Goggins – ngoggins@sfu.ca
Sally Podmore (Design) –
sallypodmore@gmail.com
Hanna Eklund (Local Impacts) –
hanna.eklund@gmail.com