Climatologist David Phillips brings 'Not your grandparent's weather' talk to Regina
Alex Soloducha | CBC News | Posted: April 26, 2019 12:42 AM | Last Updated: April 26, 2019
Phillips says presentation will focus on how weather has changed and what to do about it
David Phillips says what you're seeing outside is "Not your grandparent's weather."
That's the title of the free presentation that the senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada is bringing to Regina on Thursday night.
Phillips said he'll go over why the weather has changed over time and what we should do about it.
While Phillips said humans can't be blamed for tornadoes and hurricanes, human behaviour does contribute to the intensity of storms present day.
He blames some of the weather changes on urbanization in Canada.
"When it used to rain in Saskatchewan, in the cities, it would just rain on the grass or the fields and then just flow into the systems," said Phillips.
"But now when it falls on asphalt and building materials, my gosh, it doesn't matter how dry Saskatchewan is, that raindrop becomes a flood drop."
Phillips said Canadian cities will have to adapt to more extreme weather in the future, and that preparation is key.
"So it's a matter of responding, preparing, building up infrastructure that can handle the kinds of changes that we're seeing."
In Saskatchewan, Phillips said the last two growing seasons have been the driest on record. And the pattern of dryness is not expected to change.
And the situation could be desperate.
Some farmers may be changing strategies, like using summer fallow "because of the fact that we haven't seen any recharge during the wintertime and now our forecast is showing warmer than normal," he said.
Any moisture that falls is absolutely money in the bank for the province.- Climatologist David Phillips
"Any moisture that falls is absolutely money in the bank for the province."
Phillips said a spring snow like what is expected for the coming weekend would be a good thing.
As for stopping climate change, Phillips said that isn't doable but it can be slowed by burning fewer fossil fuels.
"I think the future will be bright. We're not going to say the world's going to end in 2056. It'll still go on but we're going to have to be a different kind of human being."
Phillips' presentation runs from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Kramer IMAX theatre.