 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Technology and Engineering
- ISSN: 2333-2581
- Modern Environmental Science and Engineering
Increasing Cold Weather Extremes since the New Millennium: An Assessment with a Focus on Worldwide Economic Impacts
E. Ray Garnett1, and Madhav L. Khandekar2
1. Agro-Climatic Consulting, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, formerly of the Canadian Wheat Board
2. Former Environment Canada Scientist, Expert Reviewer IPCC 2007, Climate Change Documents, Markham, Ontario, Canada
Abstract: Since the new Millennium, numerous cold weather extremes (CWE) accompanied by heavy snow falls have been witnessed which have inflicted substantial economic losses worldwide. Among some of the notable cold weather extremes in Canada in the last five years have been: several heavy winter snowfalls in eastern Canada during 2015-2017, one of the heaviest snowfalls in recorded history in Vancouver and vicinity during December 2016 and the Calgary (Alberta) floods linked to sudden melting of heavy snow accumulation during the winter of 2013. These and many other such extreme cold events have inflicted heavy economic losses locally as well as on the regional scale in eastern and western Canada. This paper examines CWE in Canada and elsewhere and assesses their economic impacts. This is an overlooked issue in the present climate change debate, which has been focused primarily on Warm Weather Extremes (WWE) like heat waves, floods, droughts and their possible linkage to the warming of the earth’s climate. The paper further analyzes impact of large-scale atmosphere-ocean circulation patterns and the possible impact of the approaching solar grand minimum on increasing CWE of recent years. Finally, implications of our analysis for projecting future economic losses over Canada and elsewhere are considered.
Key words: cold weather extremes, costs, solar activity
