Canada First Research Excellence FundNon-Peer ReviewedPersonal account of a climate scientist's interactions with knowledge users looking at extreme weather in the Canadian West

Wheaton, Elaine

University of Saskatchewan Research Archive

University of SaskatchewanHARVEST, https://harvest.usask.ca/Global Institute for Water Security Global Water Futures2023-02-01Come Hail or High Water : Exchanginginsurance and drought knowledge toadvance research and its applicationWheaton, ElaineGlobal Water Futureshttps://hdl.handle.net/10388/14775Downloaded from HARVEST, University of Saskatchewan's Repository for ResearchIt was the spring of 2022 and I was thinking hard about theoutlook for drought on the prairies. One morning I wassurprised and pleased to see an email pop up from CarolineFloyd of the Catastrophic Loss Analysis of CatIQ(Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.) -- anorganisation that provides detailed analytical andmeteorological information about Canadian natural andhuman-made catastrophes for the insurance industry.CatIQ hosts an annual Canadian catastrophe conference.They were developing a panel on the insurability issues facedby agriculture in Canada related to climate change. Carolinehad seen my work on this topic and, because CatIQ'sprevious focus had been on floods and meteorologicalevents other than drought, wanted to consider including thatthreat in their analysis.Because Caroline reached out to me, I took part in CatIQ'sJune 2022 event, Catastrophes in Canada: the Big Picture.The meeting brought together some important players whenit comes to climate extremes. There, I participated with PublicSafety Canada, The Cooperators, University of Waterloo,Global Catalyst, MNP, Canadian Red Cross, and the CanadianCrop Hail Association.With CatIQ input and co-author Dr. Barrie Bonsal ofEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, we developed apresentation that addressed many aspects of drought,including impacts on agriculture and water resources,dynamics of past and future possible droughts, and riskmanagement options. We drew upon our Global Water Futures(GWF) Precipitation Extremes work for the presentation anddiscussion. The audience for the event was mainly insurance industrypeople, and I learned a lot, for example about the combinedeffect of hail and drought. When a crop is stunted by drought itis less able to protect itself from hail and recover, so theimpacts are more severe. These interactions of researchers and users open new avenuesof research, and possibly, more expansion possibilities forindustries.Bonsal, B, Z Liu, E Wheaton, R Stewart. 2020 Dec. Historical andProjected Changes to the Stages and Other Characteristics ofSevere Canadian Prairie Droughts. Past and Future Trends andVariability in Hydro-climatic Processes, Special Issue of Water2020, 12, 3370; doi:10.3390/w12123370Come Hail or High WaterExchanging insurance and drought knowledge to advanceresearch and its applicationElaine Wheaton, Climate Scientist, Adjunct Professor University of Saskatchewan,Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environment andSustainability, and Emeritus Researcher, Saskatchewan Research CouncilIllustration by Fred Reibin

Come Hail or High Water : Exchanging insurance and drought knowledge to advance research and its application

https://harvest.usask.ca/bitstream/10388/14775/1/Elaine%20Wheaton%20story.pdf

Come Hail or High Water : Exchanging insurance and drought knowledge to advance research and its application

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