Climate change report 'bad news,' but not shocking, says P.E.I.'s environment minister

Coastal erosion poses the greatest level of risk to P.E.I. by 2050, according to the province's Climate Change Risk Assessment.

The study was released Wednesday in the P.E.I. Legislature by Steven Myers, the minister of environment, energy and climate action.

Local experts from across the Island, including Indigenous communities, had input into the project.

The assessmentlooked at everything from coastal erosion and post-tropical storms to heat waves, flooding and drought.It shows that if nothing is done, there is potential for long-term or permanent damage to Island life and infrastructure.

"It really deals with how we operate as a province," Myers said.

"How does climate change impact health care? How does it impact the delivery of services? How does it impact our roadways? The coast is just part of it, but how does it impact our ability to continue to farm and fish and those types of things."

On average, P.E.I.'s coastline is eroding at a rate of 30 centimetreseach year, according to government data.

Myers said the province will work immediately to create a province-wide adaptation plan to tackle the risks outlined.

"It's bad news, there's no question about that," Myers said.

"It's kind of got a scary result set to it, but it's not something that we were shocked with and it's not something that if anybody's been listening all along they should be shocked with, but that doesn'tmean that we don't have to take immediate action."

The full document is accessible here.