Climate change and Ontario's provincial parks

Using some of the climate change scenarios sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), changes in temperature and precipitation are projected for the sample of parks for the periods 2020 to 2029, 2050 to 2059, and 2080 to 2089. [...] Based on the outputs from the scenarios, most parks are projected to experience MAT increases of 1.8 to 3.2°C in the 2020s, 1.8 to 7.0°C in the 2050s, and 2.5°C to 10.0°C in the 2080s. [...] Goals and Objectives In collaboration with Ontario Parks and other programs in the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), the Parks Research Forum of Ontario (PRFO), and the University of Waterloo, a scoping assessment of the impacts of climate change in Ontario’s system of provincial parks is presented. [...] The goals of this assessment are to (1) examine the potential implications of climate change for ecosystems in Ontario’s system of provincial parks and (2) explore the potential implications these changes may have for protected area policy, planning, and management in Ontario. [...] This assessment represents an initial step in support of the development of a strategic and adaptive response to the impacts of climate change by Ontario Parks and the OMNR.