Bad weather is 'new normal': roundtable

New Brunswickers dealing with massive flooding likely don't need to be convinced of the effects of climate change.

A new report from the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy suggests volatile weather will only get more frequent in the future.

"I think what we are experiencing now and seeing now … in New Brunswick and elsewhere is the new normal," said David McLaughlin, the roundtable's president.

"The problem with climate change is it'll manifest itself in exactly that kind of way — different wild kind of changes in weather. You'll see storm surges. You'll see heavy rainfalls where you didn't expect to see them, unseasonably hot weather, unseasonably cold weather."

December has brought flooding to New Brunswick as well as storm surges along the northeast coast.

Such surges have ripped up roads and flung debris onto properties. The report suggests that might force homeowners to move inland.

"New Brunswick is vulnerable in a particular way," explained McLaughlin.

"With about 5,500 kilometres of coastline, I mean, our province is at risk in terms of exactly that — storm surges from intense storms and rising tides."

The roundtable has published a map showing the specific effects for each degree of increased atmospheric temperature. Those effects can range from the decline of salmon habitat to the spread of Lyme disease.

The roundtable hopes presenting scientific data as real events will further show Canadians how climate change is changing their lives.