Climate Change

Changes to the climate will affect all wildlife across all of Canada, and the impact is already being felt. Species worldwide are shifting their ranges, migrating sooner and bearing young earlier than in the past.

Previously, climate change occurred at a pace that gave wild plants and animals time to adjust. Today, due to human activity, shifts in temperature, seasons and weather are happening so fast that wildlife has fewer opportunities to adapt.

The most dramatic changes of all are taking place in the High Arctic, which is heating up faster than any other region on Earth. The world is watching in disbelief as sea ice shrinks at a higher rate than even the most conservative scientific estimates, and northern Canadians are seeing new species of birds, insects and plants spread over the tundra.

There is a growing sense of urgency among the conservation community, and an unparalleled agreement that the most immediate challenge is to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the most severe scenarios projected by scientists.  With climate change threatening to cause drastic harm to wildlife and entire habitats across Canada, the inadequacy of government plans and activities currently in place to address it must be rectified immediately. Secondly, most existing climate change plans in Canada do not adequately reflect what wildlife and people need to adapt to a changing climate. Due to the scale of this challenge, little will actually happen unless adaptation plans are adequately funded. Therefore, a mechanism needs to be created to help organizations and individual Canadians actively adapt to changes in the climate. Thirdly, since many existing natural areas store carbon, climate change plans must include the recognition and preservation of these areas to prevent even more carbon from being released.

Over the past year, CWF has been active in supporting activities to help meet these needs. In 2009/2010, CWF will be even more active in helping wildlife adapt to changes in their habitats and encouraging the creation of sources of funding to do the vast amount of work required. CWF will support this work by continuing to encourage and educate Canadians to reduce their personal greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.