Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Freight Transportation in Atlantic Canada

There have been several studies dedicated to the climate change impacts on transportation in Canada since 2003 when the first Canadian national workshop on the impacts of climate change on transportation was held. This paper is an extension and continuation of the previous study — modeling potential changes in demand for freight transportation in Atlantic Canada due to climate change impacts — completed by the author in 2005. The current paper looks into overall aggregate impacts of climate changes on Atlantic Canada's transportation system. First, the question of whether or not Atlantic Canada is subject to climate change is addressed. Second, climate change impacts in Atlantic Canada are evaluated in monetary terms. Finally, major consequences of these impacts for the volume of ground freight transportation in Atlantic Canada are presented on the basis of computer simulations.