Understanding and Assessing Impacts
Alberta will experience climate change impacts including increased temperatures, heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and flooding. To assess the vulnerability of the Glenbow Museum to these impacts, the PIEVC protocol was used. Eight climate hazards were included in the assessment: increasing air temperatures, heat waves, drought, wildfire, short-duration high intensity storms, river flooding, winter storms, and severe storms. Present conditions for each climate hazard were compared to projections for the 2050s (2041-2070) and the 2080s (2071-2100) for RCP 8.5 that were developed with the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC). The assessment team also met with Indigenous knowledge holders to consider observed changes related to climate, urbanization, and shifts in natural systems around the museum.
Thirty-nine individual museum components were assessed against the climate hazards, and only relevant climate-infrastructure interactions were included in the assessment. A risk classification was assigned to each interaction based on the likelihood of the museum component being negatively impacted if the climate hazard were to occur in the present, 2050s, and 2080s.
Out of the 197 climate-infrastructure interactions assessed, 55 were identified as high risk by the 2050s, and 84 were high risk and 8 were very high risk by the 2080s. The museum components facing high risk from four or more climate hazards by the 2050s include stormwater drainage, maintenance activities, and construction personnel. Short duration, high intensity storms were projected to cause the most significant impacts to the museum, posing a high risk to over 18 museum components by the 2050s. By the 2080s, major river flooding, extreme heat, severe storms, and wildfire smoke are expected to pose a high risk to many museum components.
For additional climate information, look at the Resources section of this example (below).