Executive Council
Finance

December 3, 2014

Adapting to Climate Change Benefits Families and Communities

Provincial Government Launches New Climate Information Portal

Today the Provincial Government launched a climate information portal on the Community Accounts website providing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians access to historical weather and climate change data observed over time.

“Having access to up-to-date, accurate information about our province’s weather patterns is crucial to inform decisions about land use planning, municipal zoning, disaster planning and infrastructure design. This information is becoming increasingly important as our province’s climate is changing due to rising global temperatures.”
- The Honourable Dan Crummell, Minister of Environment and Conservation and Minister Responsible for the Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

Community Accounts is an interactive data retrieval system which provides critical data at the community, regional and provincial level. The portal will contain comprehensive climate change information and access to related weather data.

“Since 2002, the Community Accounts website has been a source of high-quality information on important topics, such as health, education and employment in Newfoundland and Labrador. Updating this website to include the latest, most relevant climate data ensures it can be used by the people of our province as an authoritative tool for making evidence-based decisions.”
- The Honourable Ross Wiseman, Minister of Finance

The climate information portal includes temperature, precipitation and wind data from over 70 Environment Canada weather stations throughout the province and can be used to incorporate the best possible information into climate change decision-making.

The climate information portal can be found online at: nl.communityaccounts.ca/climate .

QUICK FACTS

  • The Provincial Government launched a climate information portal through the Community Accounts website today.
  • The climate information portal was developed by the Department of Finance in partnership with the Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
  • The Community Accounts database provides data on key topics like health, income, education and demographic information.
  • Budget 2014 allocated approximately $9.3 million in energy conservation and environmental protection measures, including $400,000 annually for flood risk mapping studies.

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Media contacts:

Deborah Thomas
Director of Communications
Department of Environment and Conservation
Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
709-729-2575, 728-8092
deborahthomas@gov.nl.ca
John Tompkins
Director of Communications
Department of Finance
709-729-6830, 728-7762
jtompkins@gov.nl.ca

2014 12 03                                            1:50 p.m.