Climate change simulator tool draws gasps, even tears from P.E.I. residents

Adam Fenech has spent 35 years spreading the message that climate change is coming. For the last 10 of those, he's had an assistant named CLIVE helping out. 

CLIVE, which stands for CoastaL Impacts Visualization Environment, allows Islanders to virtually fly over P.E.I. using a controller to raise and lower sea levels, showing them the future impact of coastal erosion. 

The program was created in 2013 as a way to share research and projections of coastal erosion. The interactive format was the suggestion of some of Fenech's students.

The director of the UPEI Climate Lab said the reaction from students during the first demonstrations of CLIVE was immediate. 

"I was hit in the back of the head by gasps from the audience. And I thought, 'Oh wow, we're really onto something here.' This visualization is really effective. People's concern went from high to very high," Fenech said.

"Since then, we've always considered it to be a very effective tool for conducting vulnerability assessments, and getting people talking about coastal issues."

This month, Fenech is touring the Island with an updated version of CLIVE, visiting eight communities to give residents a glimpse into the future. 

"I have to be very careful because it's a very realistic visualization and people take it to heart. I've had people react very emotionally to seeing their houses swamped with water, as you can imagine. In previous tours with the earlier CLIVE, I've had people actually crying as a result," he said.

"I'm hoping that they can judge their vulnerability and then take action, which is either move their structure further away from the shore or build up some form of protection."

Protecting a shoreline, Fenech admits, is difficult and can be expensive. He said one of the goals of CLIVE is to convince Islanders not to build in areas under threat of coastal erosion.

"My main message is, of course, don't build so darn close to the shoreline," Fenech said.

"Like everyone else, I'm seduced by the ocean, so I'd love to live right on the coast, but it's not a realistic option anymore on Prince Edward Island under climate change, in many places."

Fenech said the visualization tool has been updated, using the latest imagery gathered by the provincial government.

"There's been a great advance in the resolution of the imagery, as well as in the way that we can program things," he said. "What we have now is a tool that has the whole Island in one scene that we're able to fly over."