AMS Short Course on ClimateData.ca: Providing Canadians with the climate data and information needed to support climate change adaptation.
The AMS Short Course on ClimateData.ca will be held preceding the 100th AMS Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Preliminary programs, registration, hotel, and general information will be posted on the AMS Web site (https://www.ametsoc.org).
Climate change poses several risks to Canadians, cities and important Canadian sectors such as public health, transportation, energy, forestry, biodiversity and agriculture. Canada’s Changing Climate Report states that “Canada’s climate has warmed and will continue to warm further in the future, driven by human influence” and that this warming is “effectively irreversible.” This means that even with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will still need to adapt to be able to thrive in a changing climate. One of the most significant barriers to climate change adaptation is a lack of access to useful and relevant climate data and information.
The Government of Canada under the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, a National plan to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and build resilience to a changing climate, is working to address this gap through the establishment of the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS). The CCCS helps Canadians understand and plan for the impacts of climate change and is Canada’s authoritative source for climate data, information and tools.
The course will focus on the new ClimateData.ca, a user-friendly online climate data source created in collaboration with the Computer Research Institute of Montréal, Ouranos, the Pacific Impacts and Climate Consortium, the Prairie Climate Centre, supported by CCCS, to increase access to climate data and information. The primary goal of this course is to familiarize users with ClimateData.ca including it’s key features and functions such as:
The session will include a demonstration of ClimateData.ca with representatives from partner organizations followed by a hands-on exercise using ClimateData.ca for climate change adaptation case studies. The overarching goal is to introduce users to techniques and applications to improve the use of available climate data and information to support climate change adaptation measures and decisions. ClimateData.ca will also continually evolve as new climate datasets become available and with more feedback from users. This course will therefore also be an opportunity for users to highlight the most useful features and provide suggestions for improvements.
Instructors include subject matter experts from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Centre for Climate Services and their partner organizations including the Computer Research Institute of Montréal, Ouranos and HabitatSeven.
Participants are expected to bring their own laptops to be able to participate in the hands-on exercises.
For more information please contact: Ellen Yeung at [email protected]
All short course/workshop attendees must register and wear a badge/ribbon. Short course/workshop registration is not included in the 99th Annual Meeting registration, and short course/workshop registration does not include registration for the 99th AMS Annual Meeting.