The latest data from European climate agencies shows that the past year was the third warmest on record, with global warming approaching a critical climate threshold. The Copernicus Climate Change Service indicates that the global average temperature in 2025 will be about 1.47 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, second only to the previous year’s record of about 1.6 degrees Celsius. Including 2023, this marks the first time on record that the average temperature has risen by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius for three consecutive years. The agency warned that, at the current rate, the long-term warming ceiling of 1.5 degrees Celsius set by the 2015 Paris Agreement could be reached before the end of this decade, about ten years earlier than originally predicted. The impact is particularly pronounced in Canada.
As snow and sea ice disappear at an accelerated pace, the “natural barrier” that normally reflects sunlight weakens, allowing vast land and sea areas in the north to absorb more heat, causing Canada to warm faster than the global average. Canada experienced its second-worst wildfire season on record in 2025, second only to 2023, and marking the third consecutive year of exceptionally active fires.
Preliminary data shows that the country burned approximately 89,221 square kilometres throughout the year, equivalent to the land area of Portugal. During the fire season, several regions were raised to the highest alert level, thousands of residents needed to be evacuated, and the government also deployed international firefighters for assistance.
Wildfire expert Mike Flannigan, a professor at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, points out that the area burned in the past decade is more than three times that of the early 1970s, and climate change is one of the main reasons. Rising temperatures not only lengthen the fire season but also make thunderstorms and lightning more frequent and forest vegetation drier, creating conditions for large-scale fires. Rising temperatures are also fuelling stronger and more unpredictable storms, causing massive economic losses in Canada.
The Catastrophic Loss Mitigation Institute estimates that Canada currently suffers an average of $9.2 billion in disaster losses annually, covering both insured and uninsured losses. Since the early 1980s, adjusted for inflation, these losses have increased by an average of 9.3% annually, far exceeding the growth rates of population, GDP, and construction spending. The institute points out that climate change is not the only factor, but it has significantly increased the probability and destructive power of extreme events.
In less than a month in 2024 alone, Canada experienced four of the ten most expensive disasters in history, including the Calgary hailstorm, the remnants of Hurricane Debby, the Jasper wildfires, and the floods in southern Ontario. Insurance costs have also risen accordingly, with home insurance premiums in some of the hardest-hit areas of British Columbia increasing by nearly 68% between 2021 and 2025. The increasing number of days with extreme heat poses a direct threat to public health.
Toronto family physician Samantha Green, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, points out that prolonged periods of intense heat, especially without nighttime cooling, can worsen chronic diseases such as heart, lung, and kidney conditions, posing a particularly high risk to the elderly and outdoor workers. During a heatwave last August, Montreal Public Health received three suspected heat-related deaths. Toronto also issued six heat warnings during the summer, during which time it recorded 74 emergency room visits related to heatstroke.
Climate models indicate that by the middle of this century, the number of days with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius per year in both cities may increase by at least 20 days compared to the end of the 20th century.
Data also shows that sea ice extent in both the Arctic and Antarctic has repeatedly hit record lows. In February of this year, global sea ice coverage fell to its lowest level since satellite records began in the late 1970s. Canadian government data indicates that since records began in the late 1960s, summer sea ice extent in northern waters has decreased by approximately 7% every decade. The estimated summer sea ice extent in 2025 is approximately 920,000 square kilometres, which, while not reaching a historical low, is a level only seen in the past 20 years.
Research generally suggests that the Arctic Ocean may experience almost ice-free summers around the middle of this century. Climate change is also impacting the cost of daily life. Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph, describes coffee prices as an “early warning sign” of climate change effects.
High temperatures, unstable rainfall, and increased disease are putting pressure on coffee production, pushing up prices in Canada. Statistics Canada data shows that coffee prices rose 27.8% year-on-year in November 2025. He pointed out that long-term food price increases can often be traced back to agricultural production conditions that deteriorate due to extreme weather, including abnormal weather in Southern California that drove up lettuce prices and drought that increased feed costs, which in turn affected beef prices.
In summary, last year was the third warmest year on record, serving as a global warning sign and clearly reflecting how climate change is reshaping Canada’s reality on multiple levels, from the natural environment and public safety to health and people’s livelihoods.