Nova Scotia could become Canada's second island province thanks to climate change and sea level rise.
Mayor David Kogon of Amherst, N.S., said sea levels are projected to rise in the Bay of Fundy over 15 to 20 years to the point where the Isthmus of Chignecto will flood, even without a storm surge.
The isthmus is a narrow, low-lying strip of land that is about 20 kilometres at its narrowest point.
"If the Isthmus of Chignecto, which is all that connects Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, is flooded out, then Nova Scotia will be surrounded by water," said Kogon in an interview Thursday, adding that with the right storm the isthmus could flood sooner.
"If the highway and rail line are under water, you've completely cut Nova Scotia off from the rest of mainland Canada."
I know, I know, Newfoundland is also an island only it's Newfoundland and Labrador, right? Not the same thing.
8 comments:
If you drive from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick close to high tide you can see how close to the water the Trans Canada Highway and the railway mainline are.
That sounds like a wake up call, Rumley. Ah the joys of coastal living, eh?
The mayor of Amherst NS was quite evocative and well-spoken when he brought this up yesterday. We can thus be quite sure that provincial and federal politicians will have hands clapped tightly over their ears in response, while climate change deniers will pooh-pooh the whole thing. Repair the dykes? Good Lord! We'd forgotten about those needing maintenance after two centuries and more - this seawater ingress was a problem long ago as well. Thousands laboured for decades in deep marsh muck with shovels to keep out the sea. I dunno, we might end up like Churchill MB where they cannot even get the rail line to Winnipeg fixed by the US owner after spring flooding, leaving them to eat expensive grub brought in by air.
If we sit around and debate the issue for years in true Canadian Committee fashion, then we'll get flooded for sure. Our national forte is producing voluminous Royal Commission reports to fill empty shelves while disregarding the contents. It's the way our betters allow us to let off steam and forget what we were complaining about in the first place. Cheap way to prevent revolt. Yep, we'd win gold medals at the World Commission Olympics without breaking into even a mild canter.
At least in NS we can grow enough turnips (the real ones not Ontario type piffling tiny ones), taters, cabbage, carrots, apples and especially blueberries on myriad wild heaths to see us through, while friendly New Brunswickers could lob us cans of beans across the channel. The dairy industry is big enough for milk supply and chickens and pigs can be reintroduced after industries here couldn't compete with Ontario and Quebec factory farming. But truck traffic from Upper Canada to Newfoundland by way of ferry from Cape Breton, well that'll be right out, and moosemeat is all that grows well there besides partridgeberries, and cod stocks are gone. It'll be back to shipping by coastal tramp as in Joseph Conrad novels.
Yes it would be funny if it weren't so real. The ship canal builders of the 19th century across the Chignecto Isthmus would have been delighted with the latest high water news, and might not have given up so early in disgust. Proposals for a canal date back pre 1700, but then they had a Royal Commission. And we know what that heralded.
BM
Wow, BM, I had no idea. But, yes, another royal commission should have the problem sorted in no time.
Anyong.....That means the Avalon Peninsula will become an island as well.
Anyong.....11:26...you are condescending to be sure. Everything that you mentioned as survival food in Nova Scotia especially blueberries grow in abundance in Newfoundland as well....your prejudiced is showing and indicates you know nothing about Newfoundland.
Anyong, try not to bristle so much when anyone says something about N&L you don't like. Just give it a rest.
Anyong....then you give it a rest regarding Donald J. Trump....I'm sick of turning on Canadian news and the first thing up is D. Trump or anything that is American.
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