Industrial countries had a chance to maintain our perfectly balanced, habitable world, if we worked together and converted our economies. The increase in heat on planet Earth is caused by “human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)” [Climate change: global temperature, Lindsey and Dahlman]. In other words, the burning of coal, oil, and gas. But we haven’t reduced our GHGs. Not enough. Heat waves, droughts, forest fires, floods, and other extreme weather events like tornados, hurricanes, and other violent storms—all of these are happening quite regularly on Earth right now because of climate change.
Some scientists deny that climate change is caused by human activities,including the Canadian economics professor Ross McKitrick, who is advising President Trump. McKitrick also writes for the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute and the National Post. He and others pull together an “embarrassing collection of cherry-picked statements” that downplay the perils of human-caused climate change [A Critical Review of Impacts of GHG on the US Climate, fromThe Tyee, 2025/09/02].
The Paris Accord of 2015 is a treaty adopted by 195 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference which took effect in December 2015. Its goal was to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5º C above pre-industrial levels. Although 2024 exceeded the 1.5º C target, breaching that temperature for one year does not mean the Paris Accord is broken [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), State of the Global Climate].Temperatures will be measured over the next decades to see if the temperature will stay at 1.5º C or increase. An increase is a serious concern. If countries of the world continue reporting as they have been, that would mean “emissions of 51.5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030, a level only 2.6% lower than in 2019” [UN Climate Change Report, 28 October 2024].The UN states that, “Greenhouse gas pollution at these levels will guarantee a human and economic train wreck for every country, without exception.”
On August 26, 2025, Lytton, BC recorded the highest temperature for that day in Canada at 41.3º C (106.3º F) [The Canadian Press]. And during a severe heat dome in 2021 that extended through the Pacific Northwest both in BC and the US, Lytton recorded the highest temperature again at 49.6º C (121.3º F). The Village of Lytton burned to the ground shortly after. The global temperature is rising steadily and heat waves are increasing in frequency and intensity [Climate Injustice, Friederike Otto].
According to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, “2024 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850. The global average surface temperature was 2.32º F (1.29º C) above the 20th century average (57.0º F or 13.9º C).” Although there is a huge variance in temperatures on our planet, the concept of a global average temperature helps to track changes in Earth’s temperature. This temperature is created by taking measurements around the globe and then converting them for anomalies, such as the difference between the observed temperature and the long-term average temperature for each location and date.
The WMO Report, 28 May 2025 forecasts that “the annually averaged global mean near surface temperature, for each year between 2025 and 2029, is predicted to be between 1.2 degrees C and 1.9 degrees higher than the average over the years 1850 – 1900.” They also stress that “every additional fraction of a degree of warming” drives more harmful extreme weather, ice melt, ocean warming, and rising sea levels. And if GHGs are not reduced, “global temperature is on track to rise by 2.5 degrees C to 4.5 degrees by 2100” [NASA Science, Is It too late to prevent climate change?]. “The rise in global temperatures would begin to flatten within a few years if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today” [NASA Science]. “Temperatures would plateau, but remain elevated for many, many centuries.” Temperatures are irreversible for humans alive today, but “every little bit of avoided future temperature increases results in less warming that would otherwise persist for essentially forever.”
Some impacts of ice sheet melt:
- The massive polar ice sheets of Greenland, the Arctic, and Antarctica are melting, as are mountain glaciers. As they melt, we lose a cooling effect—these white surfaces reflect back solar energy away from the Earth. But as the ice disappears it creates larger, darker land masses that absorb heat which further accelerates warming [National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at University of Colorado, Boulder].
- Oceans are “the key to regulating climate.” Oceans continue to warm, and sea levels continue to rise [WMO].
- As the Arctic permafrost thaws, trapped greenhouse gases are released that further accelerate the problem. The WMO states that Arctic warming over the next five extended winters is predicted to be more than three and a half times the global average.
“The entire Greenland ice sheet could melt by the year 3000 causing a rise in sea level by 23 feet (7.4 meters),” if GHG’s continue at their current level, [NSIDC’s Why Ice Sheets Matter]. “For most of the twentieth century, the ice sheets made very little contribution to sea level, and were nearly in balance in annual snowfall gain and ice or meltwater loss.” That stability changed in the 21st century.
An example of environmental trouble in BC is the new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export facility in Kitimat, BC. In June, on the day it opened, the LNG plant became BC’s largest point-source emitter of GHGs. Furthermore, emission totals increased due to gas production across the entire supply chain: fracking, processing, and pipeline transport [The Tyee, 20 May, 2025]. As a result, BC will probably fail to meet its emission targets.
Moreover, the flare from the LNG plant frequently engulfs Kitimat’s 8,000 residents in black, hydrocarbon-filled smoke, which irritates lung tissue and airways especially in those who are vulnerable. The smoke contains nitrogen dioxide and exceeds Canada’s guidelines. But Tim Takaro, physician scientist at SFU, said there is no “safe” level of nitrogen dioxide. Plus, nitrogen dioxide accumulates in waterways and takes nutrients from soils, which adds up to a biodiversity loss, further adding to climate change. In addition to nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds are produced. They combine with the nitrogen dioxide to create ground-level ozone “which can cause serious health problems and environmental damage” [The Tyee, 24 Sept., 2025]. Add to that the sulphur dioxide from Kitimat’s aluminum smelter which is far in excess of health guidelines. Kitimat has major health concerns, and doctors and First Nations leaders have called for a study into the health impacts of LNG production before the plan to double its capacity is executed.
Environmentalist David Suzuki, explains how the world got to this sorry state: “I think the critical problem is the underlying way that we see our place in the world. Everything was ‘what can we take from the land?’ The economic system is inevitably destructive because nature isn’t in it. Nature is only there as a resource or as a sewer to dump our waste. But Nature has no place in the economic construct because the economy is based on human creativeness and human productivity . . . And we based this economic system on the belief that the economy can—which it cannot—and must grow, forever. That’s nuts. Nothing can grow forever in a finite world . . . that belief is the destructive agent.
“Our political system is developed to deal with these big crises . . . But those most affected by the decisions . . . are the children, our future generations, the oceans, the trees or the air . . . But they don’t vote and so the whole political system is tilted. So the problem, I believe, is that we think we’re the center of everything and the systems we’ve designed to govern ourselves, and to power ourselves, and to grow our economy, they’re all basically destructive” [BC Legends, TV show, Youtube].
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a Special UN Climate Conference, September 24, 2025, spoke of good news: “In the last ten years, projected global temperature rise has dropped from 4 degrees C to less than 3—if current NDCs (country commitments to reduce emissions) are fully implemented.” That’s the question, “If?” Will enough countries comply? There have been exciting green initiatives worldwide, but the extraction and burning of fossil fuels still proceeds. Prime Minister Carney of Canada has introduced five major projects to start right away, which include doubling LNG production in Kitimat. US President Trump, a climate change denier, advocates, “Drill, drill, drill.” No one can accurately predict the future, but it is clear that humanity and all living species are facing rough seas ahead.
For more information, search using the highlighted references. Featured photo from The Narwhal
