A study of the impact of climate change on the Prairies is among five projects recently awarded funding from the federal International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change.
Dave Sauchyn, a University of Regina professor and well-known researcher of climate change, is leading the five-year study, which will also look at similar issues in South America.
“Our project based at the University of Regina is studying extreme weather and how it affects farming in Saskatchewan and Alberta as compared to Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil,” he said.
Read Also
Short rapeseed crop may put China in a bind
Industry thinks China’s rapeseed crop is way smaller than the official government estimate. The country’s canola imports will also be down, so there will be a lot of unmet demand.
The entire project received $2.5 million.
Sauchyn said the proposal to study extreme weather events was based on the theory that more events occur as the climate warms.
“There’s all this work on how the climate is warming (and) warming is good for Saskatchewan so bring on the warming but don’t bring on the violent weather,” he said. “You can’t have both.”
Science suggests there will be more droughts, floods and storms. They will occur more often and with greater intensity, he said.
To prove the hypothesis some sophisticated research is required.
But Sauchyn said economists, sociologists, political scientists and others are sending students into communities to talk to farmers and ranchers about how weather events affect them and how they cope.
“If the scientists on the project tell us it’s going to get worse, what more do you need to limit the damage from these extreme events,” he said.
Researchers want to know how best to manage crops, pastures, soils, water and livestock for extreme weather.
“Scaling up, there’s the policy scale where we say, OK, what kind of programs and policies do we need to limit the damage to the ag community?” Sauchyn added. “Is it more insurance? Is it incentives?”
They also want to talk to innovators about their motivation, and how to bring along others who are more cautious and conservative when it comes to change.
All governments and agencies with agricultural responsibilities are involved as well.
Work is already underway in the Swift Current Creek watershed in Saskatchewan and the Old Man River basin in Alberta. Those locations were chosen to compare dryland and irrigation farming areas.
Farmers can follow the project on line through www.parc.ca.
Sauchyn said there were 110 applications for funding. This is the only Prairie-based project.
