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Financial and mental impacts of climate change to the residents of Northern Ontario:

Introduction

Climate change is a slow gradual process of alteration of the weather patterns

over a long period. Climate change in most cases occurs under the influence of both
natural processes and activities conducted by human beings. Through the burning of
fossil fuels, deforestation and emission of industrial gaseous waste into the
environment, humans have contributed largely to climate change. In as much as
humans contribute largely to climate change, natural forces such as changes in
volcanism, the output of the sun and changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun also do
the same. Since climate change is a slow gradual process, the effects are not felt until
after a considerably long time which could be as long as a century.

Climate change has several effects on the residents of the location in which the
change has occurred. These effects can be categorized into economic and health –
including mental health. Climate change also has effects on non-human factors like
plant life, aquatic life, mammal and avian life. These factors eventually end up affecting
humans. Economic factors such as increased spending have led to an increased level
of stress. This has adverse effects on the mental health of these residents.

Northern Ontario, Canada has been subjected to climate change over the years.
There has been a change in the length of summers, length of winters, temperature and
the emergence of warmer winters, hotter summers, and even colder winters. These
have resulted in increased spending and subsequently increased the level of stress in
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the residents. In this paper, the effects of climate change on financial spending and the
stress of the residents of Northern Ontario have been discussed.

Literature Review

The impacts of changes in weather patterns over long a long period can be seen
and are of great influence to businesses in Canada (Averchenkova et al. 517). First, the
emergence of floods directly damages property causing a decline in available
resources. They also threaten the health and safety of the residents (Geaves et al. 281).
It can also have an indirect influence on the cost by when it causes the supply chains to
be disrupted when it causes a loss in revenue and also if it leads to power shortage
required in processing (Oughton et al. 65). The cost implications of climate change have
brought up the need to undertake measures to conserve the environment to prevent
worsening of the situation at hand (Begg et al. 2018). Climate change influences the
allocation of resources from the stakeholders’ point of view as well as the Canadian
government (government decision-making) to promote profitable economic practices
(Smith et al. 23). The tools for climate change prediction and its possible economic
effect have been availed to the Canadian government for use during decision making
when allocating resources however this has not been used. From previous studies,
climate change has a significant impact on the economy.

The agricultural sector in Northern Ontario is the most affected sector by climate
change. The farmers of oats, barley, canola, and silage corn have had to adjust their
farming practices and financial investment in farm inputs, impacting stress onto them
(Pickering et al. 13). Long winters have resulted in the disruption of economic activities
in the skiing and snowboarding and skiing industries, leading to increased stress (Rutty
et al. 196). Recreation activities in Northern Ontario have also been adversely affected
by climate change. Activities such as fishing, bird watching, cycling, canoeing, hiking
and mountain climbing, and hunting have been disrupted (Prasanth et al. 1678) when
the purpose of these activities is stress relief. As a result, this has led to the build-up of
stress levels to the people of Northern Ontario. High-stress levels harm the mental
health of the residents of Northern Ontario.
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Discussion

Long droughts in Northern Ontario are as a result of climate change over the
years. This phenomenon affects farmers the most. Long droughts result in a water
shortage. Water is essential for all farming activities. Therefore a shortage has an
adverse negative impact on farming. In Northern Ontario, the farmers of crops such as
oats, barley, canola, and silage corn have had a decline in their yields leading to a loss
in revenue. The ability of these plants to lose water exceeds their ability to take up water
and this results in drought stress. The quality together with the quantity of these crops
declines significantly. To try to salvage the farming practices, the farmers have to adjust
their farming activities and most importantly increase their financial spending to maintain
their farms. The farmer has had to purchase irrigation equipment and to some extent
the water to irrigate the plants with. The farmers dealing in poultry and livestock have
had to spend more money to ensure their animals are fed so that their output does not
decline, otherwise their animals could die, and that is a loss of a source of revenue.
Increased financial spending increases stress on the farmers as they have to worry
about incurring the raised cost of production. Stress harms the mental health of farmers.
One of the downstream effects of high levels of stress is depression (Arloth et al. 1189).

Long droughts do not affect farmers alone. Agriculturally-based industries have

also fallen victim to long droughts. Industries involved in food processing, such as the
bread baking, beer brewing, juice making (juice made naturally from fruits), yogurt
industry and even those that make food additives lose income by a large margin. This is
due to the decrease in the raw materials for their industries which come from the farms.
The available raw materials may be overpriced since there is a shortage and their value
multiplies exponentially. This has caused the industries to incur an elevated cost of
production and hence increased spending. This also has increased the stress levels of
the managers and workers in these industries. The managers of these industries have
been forced to increase their financial spending without an increase in the number of
raw materials. They pass down this new cost of production to their workers by reducing
their pay or retrenchment of some of them, which also increases the stress levels for
these workers, especially those that have been put out of the job (Desjardins et al. 1).
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Other industries that depend on Agriculture to function properly such as farm

tools industries, agro-chemicals industries, industries that make or assemble tractors
and fertilizer industries, have also been adversely affected (Piramuthu et al. 2016). The
fields of barley are always huge and thus require combined harvesters to harvest the
barley from the fields. The industries assembling this equipment have faced a lower
demand since the fields have a lower yield and thus require a lower number of
combined harvesters to harvest the barley from the fields (Bauman et al. 169). The
same has applied to the industries that make agricultural chemicals and other farm
tools. The result is a lower-income and increased spending to maintain the industries.
This has, in turn, increased the stress in the residents of Northern Ontario that deal in
agriculturally-based industries (Loney and Julia 57).

Warmer winters are another result of climate change in Northern Ontario. Skiing
has most been affected by this change. There are multiple skiing sites in Northern
Ontario such as the Antoine Mountain, Mount Baldy, Adanac Hill, Laurentian hill and
Mount Evergreen. Northern Ontario possesses many skiing sites proving that skiing is a
major economic activity for its residents. Apart from skiing being a sport, it is also a
recreational activity that has attracted many tourists to Northern Ontario, Consequently
contributing to a significant proportion of the income of the residents of Northern
Ontario. Warmer winters have reduced the total snow cover on the ground. Warmer
winters also cause the snow to thaw much faster which also leads to a reduction of total
snow cover on the ground. Reduced snow has reduced the activities of skiing due to a
reduction of snow on which skiing is done. This has also led to a reduction in tourist
visits to Northern Ontario who used to bring in a lot of income. As a result, there has
been a reduction in the total income brought in for the residents by skiing. Apart from
the tourism industry, other industries have also been affected by warmer winters.
Industries such as those that assemble skiing and snowboarding equipment
(snowmobiles) and those that make and sell skiing gear. The result is a reduction in the
total income generated. The low revenues impact stress on the residents of Northern
Ontario since they have to struggle a lot to make ends meet. Skiing as a recreational
activity has also been negatively affected. Recreational skiing is meant for stress relief.
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Reduction in recreational skiing due to warmer winters has caused stress levels to build
up in the residents of Northern Ontario (Rutty et al. 196).

Ice hockey which is one of the major sports in Northern Ontario has also been
adversely affected by warmer winters. The thawing of ice has limited the ground on
which the sport is played. The sport is much loved not only in Northern Ontario but also
all over Canada. It is a source of income for the players and owners of the hockey clubs
and recreational activity for the rest of the residents for stress relief. The stress build-up
has become inevitable for the residents of Northern Ontario.

Activities meant for stress relief have declined over the years in Northern Ontario
such as bird watching, hiking, fishing, and many others. Recreational activities are
important in the management of stress. They provide a sense of balance in the mental
state. When the scales of mental health are tipped on one side by stress, leisure
activities function to tip the scales back to an equilibrium hence maintaining mental
stability. However, the residents of Northern Ontario have been deprived of this
balance. Bird watching has declined due to climate change (Coxen et al. 289). The birds
have migrated to areas where the climate is much more suitable for their survival.
Resulting in a less number of birds to watch. The same has applied to fish. A decline in
recreation activities has led to building up stress levels in the residents of Northern
Ontario (Schüz et al. 230).

The residents have a general concern for the impact of the changing climate on
their environment. The reduction in plants useful in cleaning the air by taking up carbon
dioxide giving out oxygen. Death in plant and animal life has caused the residents to be
more depressed about the environment (an increase in stress levels). Alternatively, their
concerns about the welfare of their children’s well-being also impact stress on the
residents. Causing them to have to spend more to ensure their well-being. This also
impacts financial stress for the residents (Yata et al. 79).

Some of the residents also suffer from the seasonal affective disorder (Goodman
et al. 70). This is a condition where at a certain time of the year these residents
experience depression and anxiety. Sometimes this condition is referred to as a mood
disorder. The victims of experience social withdrawal and hopelessness. This disorder
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is usually caused by reduced sunlight, which is as a result of climate change. In simple

terms, climate change that causes a reduction in sunlight has led to residents
developing this disorder.

Stress builds up over time results in chronic stress. Chronic stress can
permanently affect the sanity of an individual causing symptoms of psychosis,
depression, and anxiety. These may lead to the development of hallucinations and
subsequently loss of productive members of society. When the symptoms become
severe the victims have to be admitted into a mental institution.

Conclusion

The residents of Northern Ontario have been adversely affected by climate

change that has led to longer warmer winters and long droughts. Climate change has
impacted both financial and emotional stress on the residents of Northern Ontario. It has
reduced the revenue, increased their spending and limited their access to stress relief
options. For this reason, measures have to be taken to try and minimize climate change
by refraining from human activities that cause climate change. Besides, the residents
need to put up measures to conserve their environment. They also need to be creative
and come up with new recreational activities for stress relief.
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