Research projets and publications

The examples and lessons learned from the case studies will help local, provincial/state and federal policy makers in designing effective policy instruments and processes, and in improving existing ones, in such a way that they enable effective adaptation to climate change.

These documented case studies will help to disseminate and transfer information, engage decision makers and better recognize barriers to adaptation within the energy sector in order to overcome them.

This first Canadian portrait of the interactions between GHG mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the field of energy allows to educate policymakers and companies from the electricity sector about the complex interactions between mitigation efforts and adaptation to climate change

This study is particularly useful for energy policymakers concerned with energy production and distribution, including demand management, the upscaling of equipment, and energy efficiency programs allowing to reduce heat gain in buildings in order to mitigate the increase in air conditioning requirements.

The approaches developed will help guide strategy decisions made by industry partners (Hydro-Québec, Manitoba Hydro) and communities in sub-Arctic regions regarding wildfire risk management.

This project will help Canadian electricity providers such as Hydro-Québec, Manitoba Hydro and Ontario Power Generation to improve the long-term planning and reliability of wind power generation.

This approach will allow Canadian hydropower producers to better assess their exposure to persistent droughts while benefiting from a better understanding of the long-term hydrological variability in the production territory.

This project will provide hydropower producers with the robust scientific analyses to guide decision making in regards to climate change adaptations. The results will help determine whether the significance of recently observed floods is part of natural variability or if it is attributable to climate change, in which case, it may be relevant to adjust design criteria and management strategies accordingly.

Any stakeholder interested in hydroelectric asset valuation in the context of climate change now has access to a guide, validated by experts in the field, to help in carrying out rigorous assessments. The methods proposed in the Guidebook and the documented case studies will contribute to improving the consideration of climate change impacts in the valuation of hydroelectric assets.

This project provides a blueprint for Canadian dam managers to include climate change information into flood design values, and proposes solutions to address major sources of uncertainties. It offers a decision-making framework to assess and select adaptation options, mindful of dam managers’ operational context.

The mapping tool and model developed will better equip MFFP fisheries managers to evaluate salmonid habitats quality in Québec’s northern lakes and thereby prioritize actions to adapt their resource management measures according to the response of the fish habitats to climate change, based notably on changes in temperature and dissolved oxygen in the lakes.

The project results will help maintain the ecological integrity of the natural heritage of Northern Quebec by backing decisions and actions regarding land development and conservation in Nunavik with solid science that takes into account the effects of current and long-term climate change.

The PARCS en Santé project aims to implement and evaluate a long-term intervention strategy with input from the public. This strategy is expected to protect ecosystems in peri-urban nature parks while reducing risks to human health from tick-borne diseases in a changing climate.

The Climate Equity Lab’s aim is to assemble a wide range of knowledge and experience in order to co-produce an equity toolkit for climate change adaptation to raise awareness and offer support for conceptualizing and implementing fair adaptation solutions.

This project identified future climate trends in Quebec for the purpose of helping wine growers plan their grape variety choices. The results could influence future criteria for reserved designations, specifying the types of grape varieties and their possible geographical extent in the context of climate change.

This project aims to answer the following question : Does the improved simulation of precipitation extremes with the new generation of regional climate models with 2.5 km resolution lead to an improvement in flooding simulations by a hydrological model in southern Quebec?

This topic under study reviews the role of adaptation monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and their contributions to the climate resilience of the electricity sector.
 

The amplification of precipitation and flow extremes in a warmer climate is greater for small watersheds, for shorter durations, and for frequent recurrences. The results show the importance of considering the size of watersheds in assessing vulnerability to increased extreme summer and fall precipitation.

These four publications deal with the recommendations on floodplain management in the Lake Champlain-Richelieu transboundary watershed presented to the International Joint Commission.

A better understanding of the contribution of AEPs and agroforestry systems to wildlife movement in agricultural environments allows for the prioritization of land-use planning actions to promote their sustainability and effectiveness. In a changing context, the use of both natural and social science approaches is recommended to promote the adoption and sustainability of AEPs and agroforestry systems in agricultural areas.

Raising awareness among key fisheries stakeholders of the expected effects of global ocean changes on northern shrimp populations and fisheries based on new, robust findings.

Identification of key factors and elements favouring the restoration of riparian wetlands and their services in agricultural environments.

The project identified concrete examples of uses for the Agroclimatic Atlas, thereby introducing it to a larger number of stakeholders and promoting its use.

The knowledge resulting from this project will enable the development or revision of planning and action tools for decision makers in order to assist the crop protection sector to adapt to climate change.

A better understanding of the risks of flower frost damage and water stress in blueberry fields and the effect of climate change on these risks, as well as target profitability thresholds to be reached through yield increases to justify investing in an irrigation system

The RADEAU 1 and 2 projects exploited and structured the large quantity of existing data and developed new data in order to characterize the water balance of the regions under study in current and future climates, and thus help inform the government, regional actors and other studies on water management.

This project focused on the modeling of climate change impacts on water resources, specifically in Quebec and Bavaria, which is a growing concern for the scientific community working in the field of water resources.

This project has provided an integrated tool for clearly assessing vulnerability to riverbank erosion and identifying important variables in river dynamics. It has also made it possible to localize areas vulnerable to riverbank adjustments by identifying favourable zones for sediment accumulation in the channel.

Air traffic plays an essential role in the functioning of Nunavik communities, whose infrastructures must be maintained in good operating condition. This study provided a technical description of how permafrost degradation affects these infrastructures.

This project has raised the awareness and responsibility of many Quebec municipalities to issues related to climate risks, in particular the impacts on the built environment and the vulnerability of infrastructures.

This study, carried out as part of the Ouranos consortium’s health program and coordinated by the INSPQ, is part of the water quality component. It focuses on the impact of climate change on precipitation and runoff in urban and rural areas and highlights seasonal differences that may arise.

This project assessed snow cover characteristics and snow physical properties within the CRCM4 Canadian Regional Climate Model in northern Quebec, and helped improving albedo in the Canadian LAnd Surface Scheme (CLASS).

This project allowed examination of cyclone tracks over North America, mainly focusing on those over the east coast and on intraseasonal, interannual and decadal timescales. Moreover, cyclone tracks were simulated by CRCM.

This project involved the development and testing of diagnostic programs for the extraction and analysis of climate data in the Ouranos database. Modifications to the existing programs will enable the processing of data from the new CRCM at 15 km simulations and the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program simulations.

This project has enabled the optimization of flood and low-water risk management and the development of proactive adaptation strategies.

This project allowed an extensive analysis of extreme precipitation that occurs in the Saint Lawrence River Valley.

The goal of this project is to explore the potential of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project - Phase 5) data-base for its future use in impact and adaptation studies at Consortium Ouranos.

This project has provided a better understanding of the relationships between atmospheric circulation and the spatial and temporal variability of water inflows in northern Quebec and will thus become a fundamental source for predicting water resources in that area.

Many climate change adaptation and mitigation measures involve changes in land use, including urban planning, agricultural practices, the planting of trees or crops for bioenergy or carbon capture, and the restoration of natural ecosystems.

This project has strengthened collaboration between Quebec and Bavaria in watershed management in a context of climate change.

The project helped to strengthen the tools and knowledge available to support the implementation of adaptation initiatives and build closer linkages between the monitoring and evaluation and adaptation communities practice.

This project strengthened the case for climate change adaptation for both government and civil society.

This project is making use of well-established collaborations with Mexico and Bavaria in order to allow Quebec to initiate the development of a knowledge base on practices and tools for sharing water when it is limited. 

This collaborative research project encourages small and medium-sized tourism businesses in the Magdalen Islands and the Laurentides region to develop and experiment with climate change adaptation measures.   

This study has made it possible to improve the post-processing tools used and to verify the relative performance of these statistical methods for estimating the biases that exist in climate studies, which may not be constant even over two periods that are very close in time.

This project will offer support for the process of prioritizing public infrastructure components in terms of vulnerability to climate change, based on evidence.

The CRCM5 driven by MPI projects almost no sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in 2100. Furthermore, warming of 22°C is projected until the end of this century. These robust changes can affect the lives of Indigenous people, animals and the whole planet.

This project will enable modeling of future tree distribution, taking into account both the direct effects of climate on reproduction and growth, and the indirect effects on fire activity.