Canada climate change impacts now largely irreversible, federal report warns

A new report from Environment and Climate Change Canada warns that the impacts of climate change in Canada are now largely irreversible. Authored by nearly two dozen experts, the study projects that average temperatures in the country will rise by at least 3.5°C by the end of the century.

Even if global net-zero emissions are achieved by 2075, the report forecasts significant environmental shifts, including a nearly 50 per cent increase in the area burned by wildfires and a loss of more than 75 per cent of glacier mass in Western Canada. Under current global climate policies, temperatures could rise by five degrees by 2100, with a 50 per cent chance that winter temperatures in much of Nunavut increase by more than 10°C.

Ryan Ness, adaptation research director at the Canadian Climate Institute, noted that Canada is currently falling behind on necessary adaptation efforts. He emphasized the need for increased action to protect communities from rising risks of floods and wildfires through measures such as building firebreaks and flood walls.