Canada warming twice as fast as the world

Observed changes (°C) in annual temperature across Canada between 1948 and 2016, based on linear trends
(Source)

Hot on the heels of yet another Ozzie record heat statistic, we get an official report that Canada is warming twice as fast as the rate for the globe as a whole:

Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, a landmark government report has found, warning that drastic action is the only way to avoid catastrophic outcomes.

“The science is clear – Canada’s climate is warming more rapidly than the global average, and this level of warming effectively cannot be changed,” Nancy Hamzawi, assistant deputy minister for science and technology at Environment and Climate Change Canada, told reporters on Monday.

The report, released late on Monday by Environment and Climate Change Canada, paints a grim picture of Canada’s future, in which deadly heatwaves and heavy rainstorms become a common occurrence. Forty-three government scientists and academics authored the peer-reviewed report.

While global temperatures have increased 0.8C since 1948, Canada has seen an increase of 1.7C – more than double the global average.

And in the Arctic, the warming is happening at a much faster rate of 2.3C, the report says.

Under a scenario in which global emissions are dramatically reduced, average temperatures will rise only 3C across the country by 2100, including the Arctic region.

But if countries – including Canada – fail to act aggressively, increases of 7-9 degrees are likely, and the Arctic faces the prospect of 11 degrees of warming.

Under the report’s worst-case scenario, the risk of deadly heatwaves increases tenfold bring with it droughts and forest fires. Western Canada has already grappled with two years of record forest fire seasons. The risk of major rain events also doubles, meaning cities will be inundated with catastrophic urban flooding.

Access to critical sources of fresh water will also be constrained, due in large part to reduced winter snowfall, which in turn becomes a source of clean water when the snowpack melts.

[Read more here]

We are in a race against time.