‘Double whammy’ in Atlantic Canada
Sinking land mass, increasing water levels threaten coastline
at which our climate is changing rather than trying to reverse what is already happening. To combat the impacts of climate change and sea level rise requires political decisions, weighing the risks against the cost to mitigate them.
The most common strategy in Canada is to protect infrastructure with abutments and breakwaters in front of the shore, Manson said.
“The issue with protection is that once it is in place it requires maintenance,” he said. “It’s a long-term committment.”
Another approach is to retreat, moving infrastructure further back from the coast or prohibiting future development in certain areas.
“What we need to do is get a good understanding of the impacts and then have good conversations with our communities ... to say what is the most appropriate ways to deal with the impacts,” Hollett said.
Any plan will require government leadership. Ottawa, the province and its municipalities share jurisdiction and authority over coastal matters and cracking the code of who is responsible for what is often complicated.
The province is in the process of consulting with the public on coastal protection legislation that could be introduced later this year.
On a recent funding announcement stop in Dartmouth, Catherine Mckenna, the federal minister of environment and climate change, said her department is a strong partner “but we need to be working with local officials, and, of course, we need to be tackling climate change.”
“We know in the long term if we don’t do anything, we are going to have absolutely huge challenges.”
In Upper Burlington, Barkhouse is well aware of the challenges posed by rising waters.
A half century ago, a rebuilt Acadian dike shielded the cemetery and the surrounding marsh from floodwaters. Two years ago, Barkhouse built a barrier facing the river to protect the 130 graves against flooding. Now, he has resigned himself to do the same on the other three sides of the cemetery.
“This marsh here, it only flooded a few times a year on the high tides, now it floods practically every time the tide comes in,” said Barkhouse, the retired director of academic computing services at Dalhousie University,
“Even if you built this dike another two feet higher ... maybe it would hold things off for another 30 years. But at some point, unless somebody or some entity keeps raising the dike here, you are going to have a cemetery like this flooded. It will just flood regularly. These tombstones will regularly be under water.”