TABLE OF CONTENTS Geoscience and Climate Change in the Palliser Triangle of the Southern Canadian Prairies Economists' Statement on Climate Change Readers Write CGCP Now Designing Economic Instruments to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North America International Global Change Programs - Structures for Understanding IAI News Paleoenvironmental Studies in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia Biodiversity Conservation in Quebec National Science Meeting of the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) CCP INFO The Toronto-Niagara Region Study: Preparing for Current and Future Atmospheric Change British Columbia and Yukon Climate Change Program Adapting to Climate Change and Variability in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin: A Binational Symposium Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Activities EVENTS CALENDAR

CCP Info In order to make the most of shared interests and a close working relationship between the Canadian Global Change Program (CGCP) and the Canadian Climate Program (CCP), DELTAcontains a special section devoted entirely to issues of concern to the CCP. The CCP was created in 1979 to coordinate national efforts in the field of climate, and to use the knowledge gained to assist individuals, corporations and governments. The program is led by the Atmospheric Environment Service of Environment Canada, but involves other federal departments, provincial governments, research councils, universities, corporations and consultants. Your comments and suggestions regarding this section are welcome. Please address them to the DELTA Editor at the CGCP address given on page two. To obtain more information about the Canadian Climate Program, contact the Canadian Climate Program Office, Atmospheric Environment Service, 4th Floor, North Tower, Les Terrasses de la Chaudière, 10 Wellington St., Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3; tel: +1-819-997-8856; fax: +1-819-994-8854; e-mail: ccpo_bpcc@ncrsv2.am.doe.ca     The Toronto-Niagara Region Study: Preparing for Current and Future Atmospheric Change Quentin Chiotti Environmental Adaptation Research Group, Environment Canada Recent research has produced some compelling evidence of climate change, as well as other air stresses, and there is growing concern that such changes could have an adverse impact upon our ecosystems, social and economic systems, and human health. Despite extensive research on atmospheric issues, there continues to be limited understanding of the processes and effects at the regional scale — of the science of atmospheric stresses and the interactions between them (climate change and variability, stratospheric ozone depletion, acidic deposition, long range transport of hazardous airborne pollutants, smog and suspended particulate matter), their impacts upon our human and natural systems, the sensitivity and vulnerability of these systems, and the effectiveness of appropriate mitigative and adaptive responses. The significance of this knowledge gap is particularly acute for the Toronto-Niagara Region (TNR: the Greater Toronto Area, the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth and the Regional Municipality of Niagara), which has the largest concentration of population and economic activity in Canada, as well as special and sensitive ecosystems. As regards emissions, this region is a major source of atmospheric pollutants, and it could experience severe adverse impacts. Perhaps more so than any other urban region in Canada, it is an area where the adoption of appropriate adaptive and mitigative responses to atmospheric change could have a significant national impact. Consequently, the Climate Change Study Group at the University of Toronto, in conjunction with Environment Canada's Environmental Adaptation Research Group, is proposing to undertake an integrated assessment of atmospheric stresses in the TNR that will: synthesize our current knowledge of atmospheric stresses and their interactions in the TNR; construct a historical record of the climate and atmospheric conditions in the TNR, and of their impacts on the region's ecosystem and human systems; establish a baseline inventory of the region's ecosystem health and sources of atmospheric stresses; develop scenarios of expected changes in climate and other atmospheric stresses, and the impacts upon the region's ecosystems, socio-economic systems, and human health; assess the sensitivity of managed ecosystems, specific economic activities, and other socio- economic systems in the region to current and future atmospheric stresses; examine the linkages between urban lifestyles and atmospheric stresses, and the effects of societal choices on emissions and impacts; and identify and appraise mitigative and adaptive actions that can be undertaken by governments, businesses and individuals in response to current conditions, and to prepare for and accommodate a broad spectrum of future changes in atmospheric stress. The purpose of the study is to help individuals, policy and decision-makers, communities and businesses in the TNR sustain their social and economic well-being, to the fullest extent possible, in the face of what may be inevitable environmental challenges. The 5 year multi-phase study will complement previous and ongoing work on mitigation, impacts and adaptation to atmospheric and climate change, and foster new collaborative research initiatives with stakeholders and partners. Core funding is currently being solicited from various levels of government, institutions and the private sector. The proposed budget is approximately $200K/year, in addition to in-kind contributions by researchers and stakeholders — an amount that is relatively small compared to the possible cost of atmospheric change to the region's ecosystem, economic and human health. For more information contact Dr. Quentin Chiotti, Environmental Adaptation Research Group, Institute for Environmental Studies, 33 Willcocks Street, suite 1016, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E8; tel: +1-416-978-0309; fax: +1-416-978-3884; e-mail: quentin.chiotti@utoronto.ca