GEOG 111 Lab 10 - Climate Change
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Feb 20, 2024
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Camosun College
GEOG 111
/27
Lab 10: Climate Change
A.
Climate Stations
Today we are going to look at climate normal from the period 1981 – 2010 from four stations around British Columbia. Climate Normals and Averages are used to summarize or describe the average climatic conditions of a particular location. At the completion of each decade, Environment Canada updates its Climate Normals (
http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html)
for as many locations and as many climatic characteristics as possible. The Climate Normals, Averages and Extremes offered here are based on Canadian climate stations with at least 15 years of data between 1981 to 2010. We are going to look at data from these stations: Atlin, Sandspit, Osoyoos
, and Victoria
. Graphs have been produced and attached to the end of this lab.
1.
List the latitude, longitude and elevation of all stations. This information is available by searching the station name on the Climate Normals site (
http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html
)
/ 2
2.
Which station receives the highest amount of precipitation in the winter months, why? Which station receives the lowest amount of precipitation in the month of July, why?
/ 4
3.
Calculate the average (mean) yearly temperature for each station, which area has the highest and lowest yearly temperature?
/ 2
4.
Considering each station, describe the general climate patterns that cause this variation in temperature and precipitation at the different regions of British Columbia (think about station elevation
and location). / 4
B.
Plan2Adapt
At UVic, a research group called the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) has created some online
mapping tools to help people visualize the predicted impacts of climate change in our region. The site is available here: https://www.pacificclimate.org/analysis-tools/plan2adapt
. Both historical and predicted climate data are available, the latter based on a range of general circulation model (GCM) simulations of different IPCC climate scenarios. Go to the PCIC web site, and click on ‘Plan2Adapt’ beneath the ‘Tools &
Data’ tab.
1.
Do a run for all of BC in the 2050s using annual data. Look at the summary and maps. What is the predicted range of temperature increase?
/ 1
2.
Now run a scenario for the Central Okanagan Regional District for the 2020s, focusing on precipitation. Based on the results, should regional planners be concerned about summer drought? Explain. / 2
3.
For the same area, how would projected changes to snowfall levels influence potential drought conditions in the summer? Explain.
/2
4.
In addition to maintaining a steady stream for fish, the Cowichan River provides water for a paper mill in Crofton. Some local politicians are advocating for raising the weir that stores water in Cowichan Lake. A raised weir would ensure less water overflows from the lake during the winter, allowing for more of it to be dispensed to the river in the summer. Based on Plan2Adapt precipitation projections for the 2050s, should Cowichan Valley residents be concerned about summer water levels due to climate change? Explain. (You will need to figure out which of the available regions correspond best to the Lake Cowichan area.)
/ 3
Climate Graphs
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