Our planet is heating up. The hottest years on record happened in this century. And Canada is warming faster than anywhere else on earth.
The rising temperatures are part of climate change.
Climate change doesn’t just have us feeling the heat. The weather’s getting wilder, too. You’ve probably experienced extreme weather in the place you live or even, quite literally, in your own backyard. Heat waves, wildfires, storms, and floods are all becoming more frequent and more severe in a warming world.
Heat waves
Heat waves are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense around the world. They can cause droughts that damage the crops that feed us.
Heat makes some people feel tired. For others, it’s more serious. More people are getting sick or even dying from illnesses like dehydration or heat stroke as the number of hot days in Canada grows. During British Columbia’s heat wave in the summer of 2021, 619 people died because of the heat. It was one of the deadliest weather disasters in Canada’s history.
Heat waves are worse for vulnerable people in our communities, like older people or people with health conditions or low incomes. People of colour in cities are more likely to live in areas called heat islands. These are places with more concrete, less grass, and fewer cooling trees and bushes.
Wildfires
A historic heat wave scorched parts of western Canada and the United States in June of 2021. Those hot and dry conditions led to the devastating and fast-moving fire in Lytton, British Columbia, which destroyed most of the town.
Unfortunately, we’ll experience more of these destructive wildfires in the future. Natural Resources Canada predicts that Canada’s fire season will get longer. The UN reports that wildfires around the world will become more frequent and intense, with extreme fires increasing up to 30% by the end of 2050.
So why is this happening?
All the extra hot and dry days are creating more fuel for forest fires. The heat dries out grasses and trees, making them more likely to catch fire and stay burning. Rising temperatures also cause more lightning storms, and lightning starts nearly half of all wildfires.
Indigenous communities in Canada are more at risk from wildfires because they are more likely to be in remote areas where fires are difficult to reach.
Storms and flooding
Warm air holds moisture. As temperatures rise, more moisture is evaporating into the air, leading to heavier rainfalls and bigger storms. Some of these storms are powerful tropical storms like cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons.
As storms get worse, communities are experiencing more severe and unpredictable flooding. It’s a concern for Canadians! Over 1.5 million homes across Canada are in areas at high risk of flooding. Eighty per cent of Canadian cities are on floodplains.
What is a flash flood?
Flash floods can be dangerous because they happen fast, giving people little time to prepare. They usually take place in the first six hours after a very heavy rainfall. The ground can’t soak up the water quickly enough. Instead, flood waters run over the ground’s surface.
Materials like concrete cover a lot of the soil in cities. This makes it even harder for the ground to absorb rain water. On July 16, 2024, nearly 10 centimetres of rain fell in three hours in Toronto, knocking out power for over 100,000 people and flooding the streets and subways.
The extreme cost of extreme weather
As the number of heatwaves, wildfires, storms, and floods rises, so will the cost to Canadians. Extreme weather in Canada caused over $3.1 billion in insured damages to homes and other property in 2022 and 2023. The number skyrocketed to $8.5 billion in 2024.
Climate change doesn’t just affect our property. It affects our health. It can lower our quality of life and cause illness and death. And it doesn’t harm the health of all people equally.
Communities that are already treated unequally face bigger health challenges, like Black, Indigenous, people of colour, women, and LGBTQIA2S+ communities. The health costs of extreme heat in Canada could range from $3 billion to $3.9 billion per year by the middle of the century.
Some governments are starting to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the cost of climate change. In June 2024, Vermont became the first state in the United States to pass a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay some of the costs of climate disasters. New York passed a similar law in December 2024.
How can we calm extreme weather?
Scientists warn that extreme weather will only get worse if we keep burning fossil fuels for energy. When we burn fossil fuels, they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat and raise the temperature.
Governments around the world must act to cut greenhouse gases and limit warming.
You can also join our movement to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the costs of climate change. Greenpeace Canada is pushing Canada’s government to create a Climate Recovery Fund, financed by fossil fuel companies. It would help communities and local governments prepare, respond, and adapt to extreme weather.
Together, we can hold polluters responsible for climate change and make our communities more secure.
