'City on the front line': Mississauga creates climate plan to respond to extreme weather

Local climate change effects force city into action with climate strategy

Mississauga.com
October 19, 2018
Ali Raza

In the last year, Mississauga has seen a flood in Meadowvale, an ice storm, a major windstorm, and one of the hottest summers on record.

It’s resulted in property damage for residents including lost shingles, blown over fences, frozen and cracked pipes, and scorched lawns. While at first glance that might seem normal, the city’s environment director Michael Cleland wants affected residents to take a closer look.

He asks: Have you ever lost shingles on your house or has your fence ever blown over?

Residents tell him no, indicating this type of property damage from weather events isn't common.

This type of community engagement is part of the city’s consultation process for developing the Climate Change Action Plan. The consultation intends to inform and educate the community about the local effects of climate change, and how the city is responding.

“For every dollar you spend on prevention, you avoid three dollars in repairs following an incident,” city climate change specialist Julius Lindsay said. “With four major climate events this year alone, these affect the municipal level the most -- and we have to plan for them.”

Christine Zimmer, Credit Valley Conservation's senior manager of climate change science, says the city will see more extreme rainfall, and, as a result, more floods.

“Instances of extreme rainfall like the storm that happened on July 8, 2013 are likely to become more severe and frequent,” she said.

Zimmer explains that the July 2013 storm was a result of 125 millimetres of rainfall over a two-hour period. Homeowners experienced property damage, and electricity and transportation systems were disrupted, leaving commuters stranded and businesses halted. Emergency services had an increased number of calls, but decreased accessibility due to flooded roads.

“It caused flooding of more than 2,000 basements in Peel Region, and over $1 billion in insured damages across the GTA,” she said.

The city's action plan is intended adapt to these types of extreme climate events and details will be released following the consultation period with stakeholders. It also aims to mitigate the effects of a changing climate by reducing the city’s overall greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt to changes already seen and recorded in the local climate. The ten-year plan will be in action in 2019 following a two-year consultation process that began in 2017.

A planning process for the project involves engagement with the community and stakeholders, including the University of Toronto Mississauga, Sheridan College, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Credit Valley Conservation, school boards, hospitals, and residents.

Some of that engagement process also involved surveys for residents, interactive learning booths at Erin Mills Town Centre and Square One Shopping Mall that included team-based exercises to educate residents about climate change. One of the exercises is a “climate change escape room” group activity.

“People wouldn’t show up to a public meeting, but they show up to this and participate,” Lindsay said. “The cliche picture of the polar bear doesn’t really mean anything to anybody, you have to bring the message home.”

It’s quite a message: future climate data for Mississauga indicates that by 2050 the city will see 20 to 30 per cent more ice storms, three to four degree warmer winters, 44 millimetres more precipitation during the spring and fall, 20 millimetres more snowfall in the winter, 20 to 37 per cent more intense rainfalls, 20 to 32 days of more heat waves, and 24 more days in the growing season.

Bringing it home? It means more flooding damaging property foundations, more windstorms blowing shingles and fences down, and more ice storms freezing sewage pipes threatening to cause billions of dollars worth of damage while disrupting residents, commuters, businesses and first responders.

Responding to expected climate events and preparing for them is part of the plan’s adaptation goals. But in a city full of vehicles and heated buildings, mitigation is also critical.

“Forty-two per cent of greenhouse-gas emissions in Mississauga come from heating buildings,” Cleland said. “A plan like this has to offer meaningful, scalable responses.”

That means better transit options like bike lanes, electrified buses, electric charging vehicles, and using electricity over natural gas for heat.

“Ultimately, we’re looking at pure electrification where it’s practical and reasonable,” Cleland added.