ABSTRACT

There is now widespread acceptance that climate change is occurring, but still extensive uncertainty as to how climate change will manifest itself in terms of impact to specific regions. Projections indicate there will be increases in total precipitation in the northern hemisphere, but the increases will not be uniform. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2001) is predicting an increase of 1.5 to 4.5oC in global mean temperature, and an expectation that this change will create an increase in global mean precipitation by 3 to 15%, IPCC is also predicting that there will be extended periods of drought. As a consequence, it is expected there will be growing frequencies of high intensity precipitation events. The consequence of increased frequencies of high intensity precipitation events will influence the performance capabilities of Canada’s municipal infrastructure.