What is the issue?

The average global air temperature has risen about 0.6°C over the past century. The 10 warmest years worldwide, since temperature records began nearly 140 years ago, have all occurred since 1980.

The chemical composition of the atmosphere is changing through the buildup of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. This buildup of greenhouse gases, largely from human activity, is upsetting the natural balance in the atmosphere. The result is that the Earth is heating up.

Estimates indicate that a continued warming of the Earth’s temperature would trigger a wide range of changes in our climate that could have consequences for our environment, our health, and our economy. Although the precise impacts of climate change are difficult to estimate, the consequences could be serious for humans and the environment on which we depend.

What do we know?

Canada’s average annual temperature increased by about 0.9°C between 1948 and 2000. Most of western and northwestern Canada has warmed by between 1.0°C and 1.8°C. Increases in the eastern Arctic and Great Lakes–St. Lawrence lowland have been more modest, and Atlantic Canada has cooled slightly by 0.2°C.

The general global warming trend is linked to increases in the amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas released by human activities, and it comes mostly from the burning of fossil fuels. In 1998, Canadians emitted greenhouse gases in an amount equivalent to about 682 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Almost 80% of these emissions are attributable to energy production and use. Increases in emissions are due to higher fossil fuel production and increased consumption of energy in the transportation sector.

Projections indicate that, as a northern nation, Canada may experience a greater degree of warming than countries closer to the equator. Canada’s average temperature is expected to be more than 5°C warmer by the end of the 21st century, compared with a projected 3°C increase in average global temperature.

What additional information do we need?

We need to understand and anticipate the potential social, economic, and environmental consequences of climate change. For example, changes to water temperature, currents, and water quality will affect the productivity of fish populations and how they are distributed throughout lakes, rivers, and oceans. Warmer conditions would put stress on forest distribution and growth and are expected to increase the area and frequency of forest fires and pest infestations. The consequences may not all be adverse. We need to understand and develop approaches on how to adapt to both positive and negative aspects of climate change.

•  Download Trends in global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations based on data from atmospheric monitoring stations and ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland 900-1995(MS-Excel)  
• Trends in global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations based on data from atmospheric monitoring stations and ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland 900-1995 in (HTML)

What are we doing based on the information we have?

Climate change is a global problem that requires global action. Canada, along with 153 other countries, signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. In 1998, Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol, committing to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 6% below 1990 levels by 2012.

A comprehensive national assessment was completed in 1998 of potential social, biological, and economic impacts of climate change, including sectoral and regional analyses, and options for adaptation.

•  Download canada's greenhouse gas emissions by economic area, 1998(MS-Excel) 
•  Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by economic area, 1998 in HTML

In spring of 2000, the Government of Canada announced an investment in its climate change initiative of over $500 million through to 2002–2003. This includes a number of critical projects:

• promoting technological innovation;
• enhancing climate change and atmospheric research;
• helping communities to take action;
• expanding purchases of green power;
• renewing the Climate Change Action Fund and energy efficiency and renewable energy programs; and
• helping developing countries to take action.

The first national implementation strategy and first business plan with concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were approved in the fall of 2000 by the Energy and Environment Ministers of all but one of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada.

Further information

For more information and a copy of a climate change kit with ideas on how you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, telephone the toll-free line: 1-800-622-6232. You can also consult the web sites listed below*:

• Canada Country Study:
  www.ec.gc.ca/climate/ccs/ccs_e.htm
• Environment Canada:
  www.ec.gc.ca/climate/home-e.html
• Government of Canada climate change site:
  www.climatechange.gc.ca
• Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change:
  www.usgcrp.gov/ipcc/
• National Climate Change Secretariat:
  www.nccp.ca/NCCP/index_e.html

*Note: Information found on some sites is presented only in the language in which it was written. We apologize for any inconvenience.