EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: THE CASE OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK IN ATLANTIC CANAD
Abstract
Extreme weather events such as snowstorms, heavy rainfalls and heat waves have recently started to affect the province of New Brunswick in a more pronounced way. Many researchers attribute these increasing impacts to the changing climate in the province. These stylized facts are tested in this study. Testing was based on the so-called damage functions defined at the so-called meso or regional level. First, it is shown statistically that the number of these extreme weather events in the province has been increasing over time, and second, that they have negative impact on regional economy in terms of provincial real GDP. The link between extreme weather events and climate change in the province of New Brunswick is also detected, however, it is rather weak according to the obtained results. The latter points at the need to extend this study using disaggregated microeconomic data.
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