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Hurricane Vancouver causes damage to climate change ‘wake-up call’

Damage to Vancouver’s stunning breakwater during last week’s storm could be a sign of things to come as sea levels continue to rise due to climate change.

Vancouver Parks Council’s Ian Stewart told CTV National News: “We know we’re very vulnerable. “We are looking at… long-term solutions.”

During a violent storm on January 7, high winds and extreme tides knocked down the famous Stanley Park Sea Wall, turning areas into rubble. Brimming with overturned and broken slabs of concrete and debris, much of which remains dangerous and disallowed for visitors, robs a part of what is believed to be the world’s longest riverside road.

Coastal cities like Vancouver are increasingly vulnerable to climate change that causes sea levels to rise, experts say.

“Our coastal infrastructure is designed with the assumption that the sea is stable,” Simon Fraser University professor of earth sciences John Clague told CTV National News. “Once you start lifting that surface, it starts to cause problems.”

Clague specializes in geological hazards such as tsunamis, earthquakes and floods. While high waters in Vancouver were rare in the past, Clague says the city can expect them to become more frequent and more damaging in the future.

“As the climate warms, those water levels will rise and they will impact coastal infrastructure,” he explains. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of coastline could be affected.

In 2021, the world’s oceans reach record warm temperatures for the sixth year in a row. According to a report commissioned by the BC government, sea levels in parts of the province could rise by half a meter by 2050. Although estimates vary as to how quickly sea levels will rise, it is considered is inevitable, and coastal cities like Vancouver are being urged to prepare for potential impacts.

“It needs to be a bit of a wake-up call to everyone that this is the new normal,” Clague said of last week’s storm damage in BC.

When it comes to the iconic Stanley Park Seawall, Vancouver Parks Council says plans are underway to make it stronger and more resilient.

Park development manager Ian Stewart said: “We are exploring all and all solutions to climate change and sea level rise.

Vancouver Parks Council estimates it is still several weeks before the breakwater is repaired and fully reopened to visitors.

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