^^^^ since the 1990s? How about the dust bowl of the dirty thirties?
This'll be different in the sense that the dustbowl was an outlier, whereas the prolonged periods of little to no rainfall we are experiencing more often nowadays will become the norm. And speaking of droughts, wildfires will continue to get larger and burn for longer as well. I'm only 22, yet I remember when it was unusual to see wildfire smoke drifting out here from western AB or BC. Maybe once or twice a season? Now it's common for our air to be full of smoke for weeks at a time.
Regarding winters, my understanding is that they won't become more mild per say, but instead they'll be more volatile. We'll see drastic shifts between +/-5, and -40. This'll be really tough on our infrastructure, and also make navigating roads, sidewalks, and paths more difficult since the snowpacks which previously stayed solid enough to support our weight until March are now melting away in January, re-forming soon after we clear the rights-of-way, melting again, etc.
Here's a good article which describes how climate change could impact different regions of Canada.
"The Canada’s Changing Climate Report suggests the rate of increase of the average mean temperature across the Prairies is greater than it is across the rest of the country, and that’s leading to a threat of more wildfires such as the devastating blaze in Fort McMurray in 2016.
It also notes that changing rain patterns will make droughts “more frequent and more intense” across the southern Prairie region in summers. That could have a big impact on the agricultural industries based there, despite the fact that the growing season itself will likely get longer as a result of fewer days with frost.
“It’s true that there is more arable land but as precipitation patterns change, we’re going to see less precipitation in some of those important growing areas, much longer droughts, more risk of forest fires, greater risk of floods,” said Kai Chan, a professor with the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia, in an interview with the West Block earlier this month.
Flooding, as Chan noted, is also among the risks facing this region for similar reasons as elsewhere, along with rising sea levels. Communities like Richmond and Delta in the Lower Mainland are also forecast to be underwater by 2100.
As well, there could be a risk to some Prairie rivers given many flow from the mountains, which will see less snow and ice along with warmer temperatures. Those glaciers in the western mountains are expected to lose roughly 90 per cent of their 2005 volume as a result of climate change. That could lead to less water in the rivers during the summer months. Not only will that impact the water quality of those rivers but also the potential for using them for hydroelectric power generation.
The same is true for rivers in the B.C. Interior, the Canada’s Changing Climate Report adds. Lower oxygen levels as a result of warming waters have also already been detected in the waters of the Northeast Pacific, the scientists note. Much like in the Atlantic, that will likely have “widespread and detrimental” effects on the marine life in that region, they added.
So to sum up the key possible risks: wildfires, droughts, changes to water supply and quality."
