With the impacts of our changing climate already being felt in Canada, especially in our North, investing in climate science is a necessary part of ensuring that our decisions and actions around climate change mitigation and adaptation are based on up-to-date science and evidence.
While the government announced temporary funding for PEARL in November 2017, it is only one of seven climate change and atmospheric research projects which were funded by the Climate Change and Atmospheric Research Program (CCAR). Money for the CCAR program has run out and PEARL is once again at risk – set to close in September 2019. The federal government did not announce any new funds in their last budget.
Without a comprehensive, long-term solution, these projects will end, we’ll lose valuable climate data and monitoring, and our advantage in Northern and Arctic research will be jeopardized.
Canadian scientists are speaking out, and international climate researchers have raised this as a pressing issue for global climate science. Over 200 international climate scientists signed an open letter calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to show leadership by saving Canadian funding for climate, atmospheric and ozone science.
Luckily, it’s not too late to save this important research.
Given the Government’s commitment to addressing climate change, investing in climate and atmospheric science should be at the forefront of funding priorities.
With climate science under attack in the US, Canada has an opportunity and a responsibility to to be international leaders on climate science. This starts by making sure CCAR-funded projects aren’t shuttered.
