Close X
Friday, September 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

One-third of Canadians report being personally impacted by severe weather: poll

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Aug, 2024 09:47 AM
  • One-third of Canadians report being personally impacted by severe weather: poll

A new poll suggests more Canadians are feeling the direct impacts of extreme weather, but that has not changed overall opinions about climate change. 

The results from a recent Leger poll suggest more than one in three Canadians have been touched directly by extreme weather such as forest fires, heat waves, floods or tornadoes. 

When Leger asked the same question in June 2023, around one in four Canadians indicated they had been impacted by extreme weather.

The previous poll was taken as the record-breaking 2023 wildfire season was just getting underway. 

The latest poll, which was conducted online Aug. 16-18, comes midway through another above-average wildfire season, and after news that the beloved Jasper National Park was partially destroyed by fire and as residents of the country's biggest city are living through the rainiest summer on record. 

A major rainstorm in Toronto in mid-July caused flash flooding and nearly $1 billion in insured damages, while another record-setting rainfall last weekend dropped more than a month's worth of rain on the city in just a few hours.

Some places in Atlantic Canada have also been dealing with flooding in July from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. Across the country, a heat wave descended on large parts of British Columbia and Alberta in June and July and drought in both provinces has raised the fire risk substantially.

The number of people touched by extreme weather jumped significantly in every province but Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which stayed the same at 21 per cent. 

Alberta saw the biggest increase, with 43 per cent reporting they've seen the effects this year, up from 22 per cent in 2023. In Quebec the number rose to 41 per cent from 25 per cent, while in Ontario it was up 13 percentage points at 31 per cent. 

Almost half of those polled in Atlantic Canada say they have been touched by extreme weather, up from less than one-third a year ago.

More than seven in 10 people polled agreed we're seeing more forest fires than we did five years ago, while two in three said they have felt more extreme heat. Three in five also said there are more poor air quality days and more wild temperature fluctuations in a season. 

More than half of respondents say there are more floods and heavy rainstorms, as well as a delayed onset to winter.

Despite all that, people who took the survey were less likely to be concerned about climate change now than in 2023. 

More than a year ago, 67 per cent of those polled indicated that the changing climate was worrying, compared with 63 per cent this year.

The poll also shows virtually no movement on whether people believe in climate change: 13 per cent of those who took the survey say climate change does not exist, compared to 12 per cent in 2023.

About half of respondents believe there is still time to reverse climate change, while just over one-third said it's too late to turn back the clock.

The poll cannot be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered truly random samples.

MORE National ARTICLES

Eby invokes Taylor Swift as B.C. launches services to crack down on intimate images

Eby invokes Taylor Swift as B.C. launches services to crack down on intimate images
British Columbia Premier David Eby says the recent sharing of fake intimate images of pop star Taylor Swift proves no one is immune from such "attacks," as the province launches new services to get images taken down and go after perpetrators for damages. The launch of the services on Monday in conjunction with the Civil Resolution Tribunal comes on the same day the province's Intimate Images Protection Act comes into force.

Eby invokes Taylor Swift as B.C. launches services to crack down on intimate images

Muslim council cancels meeting with Trudeau over Liberal stance on hate crimes, Gaza

Muslim council cancels meeting with Trudeau over Liberal stance on hate crimes, Gaza
The National Council of Canadian Muslims has cancelled a scheduled meeting today with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying there's no point in speaking with him. Chief executive Stephen Brown says that's because of Trudeau's response to the situation in the Gaza Strip and his government's failure to deliver legislation and funding to prevent hate crimes.

Muslim council cancels meeting with Trudeau over Liberal stance on hate crimes, Gaza

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Pedestrian hit in Surrey
Police in Surrey say they're investigating after a pedestrian was hit on a city street. RCMP say officers responded to a call around six this morning near Scott Road and Nordel Way.

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Canadians and an Iranian in a murder-for-hire plot targeting two people in Maryland. An indictment unsealed today says Naji Sharifi Zindashti, Damion Patrick John Ryan and Adam Richard Pearson conspired to kill the two unnamed people, one of whom was an Iranian defector.

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser
British Columbia's River Forecast Centre has issued an upgraded flood warning for the Sumas River, a tributary of the Fraser River east of Vancouver, as the latest round of atmospheric rivers deluge the province's South Coast. An updated bulletin says flows in the Sumas River are not anticipated to pose a hazard for flooding into Sumas Prairie, an area hit hard by rainstorms and flooding that swamped much of southwestern B.C. in November 2021. 

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission
A hops farm company and its director have been ordered to pay more than $1 million over an alleged fraud that a B.C. Securities Commission panel described as "near to the most serious type of fraud possible in an investment context." A statement from the commission says Fraser Valley Hop Farms Inc. and its sole named director, Alexander William Bridges, must pay a combined $498,273, representing the amount they obtained as a result of their alleged wrongdoing.  

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission