Canada’s Changing Climate Report (CCCR), led by Environment and Climate Change Canada, has just been released. It is the first major report of the current National Assessment, Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action, launched in 2017.

The CCCR makes a series of key findings about the impact of climate change on Canada:

• Canada’s climate has warmed and will warm further in the future, driven by human influence.
• Both past and future warming in Canada is, on average, about double the magnitude of global warming.
• Oceans surrounding Canada have warmed, become more acidic, and less oxygenated, consistent with observed global ocean changes over the past century.
• The effects of widespread warming are evident in many parts of Canada and are projected to intensify in the future.
• Precipitation is projected to increase for most of Canada, on average, although summer rainfall may decrease in some areas.
• The seasonal availability of freshwater is changing with an increased risk of water supply shortages in summer.
• A warmer climate will intensify some weather extremes in the future.
• Canadian areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans have experienced longer and more widespread sea-ice-free conditions.
• Coastal flooding is expected to increase in many areas of Canada because of local sea level rise.
• The rate and magnitude of climate change under high versus low emission scenarios project two very different futures for Canada.

Federal government scientists from the departments of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Natural Resources Canada, with contributions from university experts, authored the report, drawing primarily on published peer-reviewed literature.

To access the CCCR please click here

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Manning Environmental Law is a Canadian law firm based in Toronto, Ontario. Our practice is focussed on environmental law, energy law and aboriginal law. 

Paul Manning is a certified specialist in environmental law. He has been named as one of the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers and one of the World’s Leading Climate Change Lawyers by Who’s Who Legal.

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