In an effort to begin preparing for and mitigating the possible effects of climate change, a new study done by CBCL Limited was commissioned by the city that models Ottawa’s weather patterns in the 2030’s, 40’s and 50’s under moderate to high-level climate change.
The key findings forecasted that, under high levels of climate change, Ottawa will experience winters that are 5 weeks shorter by the 2050’s, with snowfall decreasing by 20%.
A warmer climate (the annual average temperature is forecasted to increase by 3.2°C under this model) will also be a wetter one, according to the study, which found that Ottawa would see annual precipitation increase by up to 8%. The increased precipitation would, in turn, lead to tornadoes, storms and cloud cover increasing.