Nova Scotia is one 'perfect storm' away from being cut off from Canada

By Michael Tutton

John Atkinson stands atop an aging dike, with the rising tides of the Bay of Fundy before him and family farmland behind, imagining the storm that could turn Nova Scotia into a virtual island.

"The water can go over this whole flat marsh," said the 67-year-old landowner, gesturing to the grassy lands near Amherst.

"If there were to be one perfect storm ... it would be very bad."

This is a potential ground zero of a Canadian climate change disaster, where sea-level communities face rising oceans and await word on a detailed plan and the funding to keep the narrow land link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick open.

The risk isn't decades away.

[...]

Over the past 69 years, the sea level at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy has risen about 38 centimetres, even as the dikes and coastal land continue to subside.

The trend will accelerate under most international climate change scenarios, adding a third of a metre to water heights by 2050, according to studies.

[...]