The Climate Reality Project -- Victoria

What can change in a day? Everything. On September 14, the world will focus its attention on the truth about the climate crisis. For 24 hours, we will all live in reality. Pick a faraway place or a city near you. Make it yours for one day. We’re hitting every time zone — but only once. 7 p.m. in your time zone. Choose a location and get involved.

Victoria --

As the picturesque capital of the province of British Columbia, Victoria is known as the “City of Gardens.” Originally a fur trading outpost for Britain’s Hudson’s Bay Company, Victoria retains its English heritage to this day in traditions like afternoon tea. Canadians flock to Victoria year-round to enjoy its exceptionally mild climate — so mild that flowers bloom well before the first day of spring.

Yet the global climate is changing and Victoria is not immune. On Vancouver Island, where Victoria is located, the average low winter temperature increased about 1.5°C in just 13 years. When the nearby city of Vancouver hosted the 2010 Olympics, the weather was so warm that snow was hauled in from as far as 250 kilometers away.

In the future, extreme weather and rising seas could make this idyllic part of Canada increasingly vulnerable. Up to a meter of sea level rise in the next 60 years could increase coastal erosion and the risk of flooding. More intense rainfall could increase the risk of landslides on the coast. And in British Columbia’s interior, the mountain pine beetle has already damaged an area more than twice the size of New Brunswick.