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Kelowna’s agriculture sector at risk due to climate change: Report

City staff report states climate change will have a range of impacts on local agriculture
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A record-breaking heat wave in 2021, along with wildfires in the Central Okanagan impacted health, tourism, agriculture, and other aspects of the local economy. (File photo/Dan Pearce)

Climate change, and how it will impact Kelowna’s agriculture sector, is being looked into by the city.

Staff is seeking input from the Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) to help identify opportunities for agriculture to become more resilient to climate change. A climate projection report for the Okanagan, released in 2020, found hotter, drier summers, intense weather, and more precipitation are already being experienced.

“The summer of 2021 saw a record-breaking heat wave followed by six Central Okanagan wildfires that resulted in a loss of over 70 homes,” according to the report. “The fires and accompanying smoke and restrictions impacted health, tourism, agriculture, and other aspects of the local economy. These ‘unprecedented’ events are expected more frequently in the future.”

City council approved Kelowna’s Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) in 2018. The five-year strategy identified actions to reduce Kelowna’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2023. The city is now developing a Climate Resilient Kelowna Strategy over three phases to identify ways to mitigate GHG emissions and to help the community adapt and build resiliency to extreme heat, more intense wildfires, increasing water shortages, more smoke days, and flooding.

READ MORE: Kelowna aims to meet climate change goals

The report to the ACC states climate change will have a range of impacts on local agriculture, and understanding how these changes are already impacting agricultural practices would be beneficial to the city’s climate-resilient strategy.

READ MORE: Bumble bees are being harmed by temperature changes due to climate change: B.C. study


@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com

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Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Recently joined Kelowna Capital News and WestK News as a multimedia journalist in January 2022. With almost 30 years of experience in news reporting and radio broadcasting...
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