There is evidence of reduction of biomass in Saskatchewan's boreal forests (as with those of other Canadian prairie provinces) that is linked by researchers to drought-related water stress stemming from global warming, most likely caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
While studies, as early as 1988 (Williams, et al., 1988) have shown that climate change will affect agriculture,[1] whether the effects can be mitigated through adaptations of cultivars, or crops, is less clear.
Although little published information is available specifically on phenological responses to climate change in Saskatchewan, these are likely to follow general worldwide and regional trends.
[8] Alterations in phenology may have important implications for Saskatchewan agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and traditional First Nations plant uses, as well as large-scale cascading effects on communities and ecosystems.
More studies are needed, both species-specific and on interactions between species, to better understand potential future responses of Saskatchewan biota to climate change.
The permafrost on the taiga has shifted northward by approximately 150 kilometres in the last 50 years due to warmer, wetter summer conditions, and increased snowfall in the winter.
Historical records show an increase in fire frequency and intensity in recent years because of drier conditions, and this trend is predicted to continue into the future with global warming.
The general circulation models (GCMs) for Saskatchewan's prairie ecozone predict an extremely arid future, which is similar to conditions seen after the Holocene.
The region comprises both permanent and semi-permanent wetlands, which may experience changes in water depth, areal extent and length of wet and dry cycles.
[18] Although Saskatchewan may be globally reduced recognized for its vast expanses of fertile agricultural lands,[19] the Southern portion of the province is situated in the heart of the prairie pothole region (PPR), an area renowned for productive wetlands.
[21] Saskatchewan wetlands are very dynamic ecosystems, as they include a wide variety of shorebirds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, invertebrates, and aquatic and terrestrial plants.
[20] In fact, the number and diversity of breeding waterfowl are directly dependent on the availability of wetlands found throughout the prairie pothole region.
[23] Apart from being a home to wildlife, wetlands provide Saskatchewan residents with valuable ecosystem services, such as water quality improvement, flood control, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration.
[25] Accompanying the rise in temperature, experts anticipate the prairie pothole region will experience an intensified Hydrologic cycle leading to an increase in the frequency of drought periods and torrential rains.
[27] However, unprecedented changes in climate expected in the prairies have many experts concerned that Saskatchewan wetland ecosystems will not be able tolerate the heat, and intensified wet/dry cycles.,[26][27] For example, Sorenson et al. (1998) predicted that with a doubling of carbon dioxide, the prairie pothole duck population would be cut in half by the year 2060 due to a loss of wetland habitat.
The effects on the distribution of native species in Saskatchewan from climate change are beginning to reveal themselves, and will continue to grow worse if mitigation and adaptation measures are not taken.
In Saskatchewan, the driest area is found in the southwest, with the landscape becoming progressively more semi-arid, sub-humid, and humid moving north and east.
When addressing climate change effects on the native species in Saskatchewan it is important to encourage management strategies for adaptation on top of mitigation policies.
With climate change affecting the structure and functions of the ecosystems in Saskatchewan, the populations of invasive species are increasing, escalating the possibility of outcompeting native communities.
[33] As the climate continues to warm, the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, will allow gateways for aquatics specimens to branch out from their own confined environments.
[35] In the most conservative climate change scenarios, bio-climatic models predict the potential distributions, relative abundances and economic damage of several invasive species such as C.obstrictus, O. melanopus, and P. xylostella to increase in Saskatchewan.
[33] The introduction of invasive species occurs in a four-step process: Climatic models show northward shifts in the ecozones of Saskatchewan, creating more agricultural land.
These rare habitats and their species will be facing a great deal of stress as human-driven climate change continues to raise temperatures both world-wide and in Saskatchewan.
Agriculture is an economic activity that is highly dependent upon weather and climate in order to produce the food and fibre necessary to sustain human life.
Despite technological advances, such as improved varieties, genetically modified organisms, and irrigation systems, weather is still a key factor in agricultural productivity, as well as soil properties and natural communities.
Crop and livestock yields are directly affected by changes in climatic factors such as temperature and precipitation and the frequency and severity of extreme events like droughts, floods, and wind storms.
To further increase risks to good crops, is the potential for poor herbicide performance with increased temperatures, reducing the potential crop yields[45] It has been found that the frequency and severity of wheat stripe rust epidemics on winter wheat varies in direct relationship to climatic variation[46] Climate change models generally predict an increased frequency of extreme weather events, and longer, warmer, drier summer, with greater potential for precipitation in the spring and winter.
Introduced by Premier Lorne Calvert, Industry and Resources Minister Maynard Sonntag and Environment Minister John Nilson, the Saskatchewan Energy and Climate Change Plan aims to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and sets targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.
The Society points to the scientific consensus which calls for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions to 25-40% below 1990 levels by the year 2020.
As exemplified in side-blotched lizards (genus Uta) in the United States a nighttime temperature increases raises the rate at which these species may reproduce.