Y-EMERGE features Professor David Baumken
February 16, 2023, Toronto- “Climate change is causing major shifts in historic weather patterns with more frequent and severe weather extremes including higher temperatures it’s resulting in a new risk profile for critical infrastructures that called for the need for forward-looking climate resilience planet,” Professor David Baumken said during his lecture entitled Forward Looking Climate Change Vulnerability and Resiliency Planning in the Electricity Sector via Zoom Webinar today.
Baumken recalled some of the incidents including the past Hurricane Fiona that devastated many parts of the Maritimes including Nova Scotia; a severe windstorm in Brampton that toppled 18 poles and trapped cars; the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history occurred the transmission lines owned and operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric that pretty much devastated the town and killed 84 people in 2018 plus the 2010 gas explosion they have set off 31 wildfires killing a total of 113 people that included the 84 in the campfire burning 1.5 million acres and destroying 24,000 structures.
He clarified the estimation that a one-degree temperature variable increase per decade starting in 2030 does not mean we worry about climate change in 2030 because it is changing now.
“When we’re talking about climate change mitigation, we’re talking about reducing those greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions and it’s not new. What’s new is that we’re going to be forward-looking so I’d mentioned sea level rise, certainly when you look at flooding, melting of ice caps, breaching of rivers and lakes; increasing temperatures there’s obviously the heat effect; some of the cold temperatures can also cause significant problems for equipment; increased precipitation; wind speeds causing that kind of damage; we have tree contact and other things that knocked down the poles or the wires and it’s that cascading effect,” Baumken said.
He added that there are climate change effects due to human-induced factors like ‘one a few years ago in Vaughan where we’ve paved everything over and there’s a lack of green space and deforestation’.
“In this case of putting up barriers or containment and that’s what asset hardening would be to certain aspects of weather asset relocation because if you’re going to have the potential for flooding or other consequences as a result of severe weather events then you need to look at relocating it. When there’s cost-cutting, unfortunately, there have been times where they have cut the cycles for vegetation management then you’ve also got other challenges,” Baumken added.
Further, forward-looking climate change planning thinking of more severe storms and their frequency, he said that to reassess the mutual aid resources utilities that do not have significant staff to handle emergencies they rely on partners, these mutual assistance agreements will need to be looked at and strengthened.
“It should go without saying too that emergency preparedness planning including drills and exercises should factor in forward-looking climate change information to be prepared and quite frankly you have to look at more complicating factors as a result of what can occur so it’s not a single contingency, you could get hit with multiple waves of problems, how you would deal with multiple things occurring?”
To sum it up, Professor Baumken encourages everyone to look at what everyone as a country, the missionary climate change objectives in terms of reducing carbon and greenhouse gases. “We need to factor that into how we’re bringing new generation online, so it needs a coordinated overall approach, and I certainly am seeing signs of that throughout Canada.
The said session is part of the series of lectures under the Emerging and Systemic Risks Monthly Lectures series co-organized by Y-EMERGE, DHEUSeR Research Cluster, and CIFAL York.