Even the smallest climate changes can wreak devastation, as evidenced by the loss of Canadian forests to the mountain pine beetle. Under normal circumstances, the beetle larvae could not survive cold winter temperatures. Milder winters have allowed the larvae to survive and our forests are paying the price.

Further North, icebergs are melting at an unprecedented rate. (Scientists estimate that global warming has raised the temperature in the Canadian Arctic by 4 ° C in the last 50 years.) In Hudson Bay, where the ice melts completely in summer, scientists note that the melt now happens three weeks earlier than normal. This is having a catastrophic effect on polar bears, which rely on ice floes for hunting and raising their cubs. Three weeks make a big difference to a polar bear, and many are drowning as a result of having to swim further to find a suitable ice floe.

Throughout Canada, streams are not as cool as they used to be. Just one or two degrees warmer and most of the returning salmon will die.

Although the list seems endless. all is not doom and gloom. Scientists believe that, if we all pull together and “do our bit,” we can arrest global warming before it destroys the planet as we know it, and help to preserve the earth for future generations.