Climate change in Canada facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Canada's environment and natural places are changing a lot because of Climate change. We are seeing more extreme weather, like big floods and many forest fires. These events are happening more often and are more serious.

Canada's average temperature has gone up by about 1.7 degrees Celsius since 1948. The far north, the Prairies, and northern British Columbia are warming the fastest. Also, Canada is getting more rain and snow, and wildfires are now a threat all year, not just in certain seasons.

Canada is one of the top countries that release greenhouse gases into the air. These gases trap heat and cause the planet to warm. In 2022, things like transportation, oil and gas production, and other industrial activities caused most of Canada's emissions.

Canada has promised to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, Canada aims to reduce emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030. The country also has a law to reach "net-zero" emissions by 2050. This means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases released with the amount removed from the atmosphere. To help with this, Canada uses tools like carbon pricing, which puts a cost on pollution.

Understanding Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Among countries that emit high levels of greenhouse gas, Canada is among the highest per person emitters.

CO₂ emissions in Canada, 1785-2022

Greenhouse gas emissions by gas, Canada, 1850-2022

Per person CO₂ emissions in Canada, 1790-2022

Greenhouse gas emissions are gases released by human activities that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, causing climate change. Canada is one of the world's top emitters.

In 2022, Canada released about 708 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. While this was a bit less than before the pandemic in 2019, it was still a slight increase from 2021. Reports show that emissions from electricity and homes have gone down, but emissions from oil, gas, and transportation are still going up.

When we look at emissions per person, Canada has historically been very high. In 2020, among the G20 countries, Canada was second only to Saudi Arabia in the amount of greenhouse gases each person produces. This means that each Canadian contributes a lot to global emissions.

Canada has a long history of industrial emissions. This means it has contributed a lot to the total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over time.

How We Use Energy

Using energy to power our homes and businesses creates greenhouse gases. In Canada, about 10% of the country's emissions come from making electricity. This amount has gone down because many coal-fired power stations have closed.

Most of Canada's electricity (about 81%) comes from clean sources that don't release greenhouse gases. These include hydro power (from water), nuclear power, solar power (from the sun), and wind power.

However, some electricity still comes from Fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil. Provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia still use a lot of coal. In remote areas, especially in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, electricity often comes from diesel generators, which are expensive and pollute the air. The Canadian government is working to change this.

Transportation and Travel

Canada is a huge country with people spread out, so we travel a lot. This means transportation is a major source of greenhouse gases. In 2017, about 24% of Canada's emissions came from vehicles like trucks, trains, airplanes, and cars.

Most of these emissions come from roads, especially from cars and large trucks that carry goods across the country. In 2019, Canadian factories made many more trucks than cars. Air travel, from airlines like Air Canada and WestJet, also adds to these emissions, though it's a smaller part of the total.

Making Fossil Fuels

The oil and gas industry is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. This sector creates about 27% of the country's total emissions each year. A lot of these emissions come from getting oil out of the oil sands in Alberta. Emissions from this industry have increased a lot since 1990.

Factory Emissions

Heavy industries in Canada, like factories, also release greenhouse gases. In 2017, they made up about 10% of Canada's total emissions. This amount has actually gone down by 25% since 1990, partly because there is less manufacturing happening in Canada now.

Forests and Emissions

Deforestation, which is the clearing of forests, is very low in Canada. The amount of forest being cut down has been decreasing since 1985.

Forests are important because they absorb carbon dioxide. While cutting down trees for wood products does release some greenhouse gases, Canada's forests also remove a lot of these gases from the air. However, the ability of Canada's forests to reduce greenhouse gases has slowly gotten worse over time.

How Climate Change Affects Nature

Canada has been experiencing warmer temperatures, more rain and snow, and more extreme weather. These changes are expected to continue. Experts believe these changes are mostly due to human activities releasing more greenhouse gases.

Temperature and Weather Changes

Köppen climate map for Canada (1980–2016)

Expected climate map for 2071–2100 under intense climate change

Canada's average yearly temperature increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius between 1948 and 2016. This warming isn't the same everywhere. British Columbia, the Prairies, and Northern Canada have warmed the most. Northern Canada, for example, saw an increase of 2.3 degrees Celsius each year.

Winter temperatures have risen more than summer temperatures. Winters became 3.3 degrees Celsius warmer, while summers rose by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Canada is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the world.

These temperature changes mean longer growing seasons for plants, more heatwaves, and fewer cold spells. We also see permafrost (permanently frozen ground) thawing, rivers freezing later and breaking up earlier, and trees budding sooner in spring.

More Rain and Snow

Since 1950, Canada has generally seen more precipitation (rain and snow). This increase is most noticeable in northern Canada. All seasons now show more precipitation, especially winter, spring, and fall.

Experts have also looked at short, intense rainfalls. While there isn't a clear overall trend for these very short, extreme rain events, some regions, like southwest and eastern coastal areas, have seen increases in 1- to 2-hour heavy rainfalls.

Extreme Weather Events

Wildfire smoke in Vancouver

Canada is seeing more heavy rain and snow, heat waves, and droughts. These events lead to problems like floods, landslides, water shortages, forest fires, and poorer air quality. They also cause damage to homes and buildings, disrupt businesses, and can lead to more illnesses.

Heat waves, like those in 2009, 2012, and 2021, have caused more cases of heat stroke and breathing problems.

Wildfires are also a growing concern. In 2023, Canada experienced its worst wildfire season ever, burning over 15 million hectares. This was more than seven times the average for the past 40 years. These fires released a huge amount of carbon into the atmosphere. Wildfires in the northwest are now happening all year round, not just seasonally.

Rising Sea Levels

Coastal flooding is expected to increase in many parts of Canada. This is due to global sea levels rising and local land sinking or lifting. The sea level could rise by up to 1.6 meters in some areas. The southwest and southeast coasts of Canada, and the waters north of Yukon, are expected to be most affected.

Changes in Ecosystems

Boreal Forest

The area of Canada that burned in 2023 wildfires was more than twice that of any prior year of record.

Change in Photosynthetic Activity in Northern Forests 1982–2003; NASA Earth Observatory

The western Boreal forest of Canada has warmed by 2 degrees Celsius since 1948. This warming is making the forest drier, which causes many problems.

Trees are starting to move to cooler places further north or higher up mountains. However, some tree species might not be able to move fast enough. Drier conditions also mean that more areas are shifting from evergreen trees to aspen trees, which are better at handling fires and droughts.

Climate change makes the boreal forest more prone to fires. The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta was a dramatic example of how global warming and other weather patterns can create "perfect storm" conditions for huge fires. Canada's wildfire season now starts a month earlier, and the area burned each year is twice what it was in 1970.

Another problem is the mountain pine beetle. Milder winters allowed these beetles to spread widely from 1996 to 2015. They killed 18 million hectares of trees, causing big economic problems for communities that rely on forests.

Arctic

Northern Canada is warming about three times faster than the rest of the world. The northern parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territories saw temperatures rise by about 3.5 degrees Celsius between 1948 and 2016.

This warming melts ice and makes it more mobile. In 2017, thick ice trapped fishing boats and ferries off the coast of Newfoundland.

Impacts on People and Economy

Farming and Food

Climate change makes it harder for farmers to plan. For example, in 2002, a drought hit Alberta hard, causing a shortage of feed for cattle. Ranchers had to buy expensive feed or sell their animals for low prices. It's hard to predict how much rain will come each year, making farming very uncertain.

Health Concerns

The number of Lyme disease cases in Canada has increased a lot, from 144 cases in 2009 to 2,025 cases in 2017. This increase is linked to more blacklegged ticks, which carry the disease. Ticks are spreading because winters are shorter and temperatures are warmer due to climate change.

Indigenous Peoples

Inuit people in Canada are finding it very difficult to keep their traditional ways of getting food because of climate change. For hundreds of years, the Inuit have hunted marine mammals like whales. These animals are central to their culture and economy. However, the ocean is warming and becoming more acidic, which harms these animals and makes them move to different areas.

While Inuit ancestors adapted to changing animal migration routes, modern borders and laws make it harder for today's Inuit to follow the animals. This means they are losing important parts of their culture, including traditional hunting tools and practices.

The Inuit are also losing access to ringed seals and polar bears, which are key parts of their diet. The decline in ringed seals harms the Inuit's winter economy and their cultural practice of ningiqtuq, or sharing resources. The ringed seal represents sharing and unity, so its decline affects Inuit identity. Polar bears rely on ringed seals for food, so their populations are also shrinking, further impacting Inuit sharing traditions.

For the Gwichʼin people, caribou are central to their culture. Caribou numbers are rapidly falling due to warmer temperatures and melting ice. A Gwichʼin activist, Sarah James, explained, "We are the caribou people. Caribou are not just what we eat; they are who we are. Without caribou, we wouldn't exist."

Insurance Costs

Climate change has led to higher costs for insurance companies. This is because there are more severe wildfires and storms. Since 2013, eight of Canada's ten most expensive natural disasters have happened. The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire was the costliest, causing $5.96 billion in damages.

Wood Industry Challenges

Climate change makes it harder to manage and protect forests sustainably. It directly affects how well trees grow and stay healthy, which impacts the wood industry. One idea to help is called "assisted migration of forests," where tree species are helped to move to new areas where the climate will be better for them in the future.

Working Towards Solutions

National Policies and Laws

Canada has made several efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Past Governments

The Canadian government signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, promising to reduce emissions. However, later governments struggled to meet these targets. In 2011, Canada officially withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol, citing financial penalties.

Current Government Efforts

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister Catherine McKenna at the COP21 summit in Paris, on November 30, 2015

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has focused on tackling climate change. It promised to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and attended the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015.

Canada's national climate strategy, the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, was released in 2017. A key part of this plan is carbon pricing, which puts a cost on pollution across the country. Experts believe carbon taxes are an effective way to reduce emissions.

In 2019, the House of Commons declared a national climate emergency. In 2020, the government introduced a law to make Canada reach carbon neutrality (net-zero emissions) by 2050. This means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases released with the amount removed from the atmosphere.

Working with Other Countries

Prime minister Trudeau with Ursula von der Leyen and John Kerry at COP26

Canada is part of the Paris Agreement, an international agreement to limit global warming. Each country has its own plan, called a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to fight climate change. However, some independent analyses have found Canada's actions to be "insufficient" to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Provincial Policies and Laws

Many provinces have also created their own plans to reduce emissions.

Alberta

Alberta was the first place in North America to have a carbon price in 2007. This rule requires large industries that emit a lot of greenhouse gases to reduce their emissions or pay into a fund. While this system has been criticized for not having a strict limit on total emissions, it aims to encourage industries to become cleaner. In 2015, Alberta committed to revising its climate strategy, including phasing out coal power plants by 2030.

British Columbia

British Columbia has set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33% below 2007 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050. It introduced North America's first revenue-neutral carbon tax in 2008. This means all the money collected from the carbon tax is given back to British Columbians through other tax cuts.

BC's public sector organizations became carbon neutral in 2010. The province also offers incentives for buying clean energy vehicles and has rules for managing landfill gas. BC's greenhouse gas emissions have been decreasing, and the province has made progress towards its targets.

Ontario

In 2007, Ontario set goals to reduce emissions by 6% by 2014, 15% by 2020, and 80% by 2050. The biggest reductions came from closing all coal-fired power stations by 2014. Ontario also promotes renewable energy and invests in public transit and electric vehicles.

However, transportation emissions in Ontario have continued to increase. In 2018, the new government withdrew Ontario from a carbon pricing system and made other changes to environmental policies.

Quebec

Quebec's greenhouse gas emissions increased between 1990 and 2007 but have since fallen. Quebec's emissions per person are much lower than the Canadian average.

In 2009, Quebec became the first place in the Americas to set a limit on emissions for certain industries. In 2009, Quebec pledged to reduce its emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. This goal was updated in 2026 to a 37.5% reduction by 2035. Quebec encourages public transit, electric vehicles, and using wood in construction to reach its goals.

Adapting to Changes

Many provinces are also working on ways to adapt to climate change. However, this is not always a top priority, and some provinces don't have detailed adaptation plans.

Helping Forests Move

One way to adapt is called "assisted migration of forests." As the climate warms, some tree species might not be able to grow well in their usual areas. So, provinces like Alberta and British Columbia have changed their rules for replanting trees. They are now helping certain tree species move to new areas further north or higher up mountains where the climate will be more suitable in the future. For example, British Columbia allowed the Western larch tree to be moved 1000 km northward.

Society and Culture

Activism

Many groups in Canada are working to raise awareness and push for action on climate change. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), a large conservation group, has been advocating for climate change solutions since 1977.

Media Coverage

News and media in Canada often cover stories about climate change, its impacts, and efforts to address it.