Shocking images show how climate change is destroying Canada

Canada in crisis mode

In the last five years alone, Canada has experienced an alarming increase in extreme weather events. The nation is warming at more than twice the global rate, with the Canadian Arctic at about three times the global rate. Raging wildfires, deadly droughts, and destructive floods show the country's climate is already changing, with scientists and experts warning these are only set to increase.

Click through the gallery to take a look at the shocking images that reveal Canada's climate crisis...

St John's, Newfoundland

You'd expect to see snow in Newfoundland, but St John's saw an unusually high amount in January 2020. A so-called "bomb cyclone" delivered high winds and dumped 2ft 6in of snow in the city, making it the highest daily snowfall on record.

Wind gusts caused extreme snow drifts that buried cars, blocked roads, downed powerlines, and even created a small avalanche. It was linked to climate change as unusual jet stream behaviors can increase these types of storms.

Calgary, Alberta

In June 2020, huge, tennis ball-sized hailstones pounded Calgary and its streets were covered in white ice. The hail may not be all that unusual but rising global temperatures could be the cause of more violent storms; this one particularly affected houses, vehicles, and crops in and around the city.

In fact, it was so ferocious that it was reported as the fourth costliest natural disaster in Canada's history.

Lytton, British Columbia

Between June 25 through July 1, 2021, western Canada suffered the deadliest weather event in the country's history. There were 103 all-time heat records noted across the provinces, with Lytton, a town in British Columbia, recording Canada's highest ever temperature of 121.3°F.

The entire town burned in a wildfire with 618 heat-related deaths as a tragic result. Scientists have said that this was a direct result of climate change.

Toronto, Ontario

Pictured here is a hazy sunrise in Toronto. Taken on July 19, 2021, the skyline is blanketed in a thick fog, caused by smoke from the numerous forest fires that tore through western Canada between June-August 2021. 

Wildfires create toxic air quality conditions for millions of people, which is worsened by climate change.

Davidson, Saskatchewan

In August 2021, farmers in southern Saskatchewan were hit with major production losses when a hard-hitting drought saw the region receive a pitiful 50mm of rain (compared to 190mm during a normal year). Cracked dry earth, hotter-than-normal temperatures, and wind all contributed to worryingly low crop numbers.

Pictured here are two farmers in Davidson planting crops earlier in the year, as part of an attempt to resolve this ongoing crisis.

British Columbia

Thousands of British Columbia residents were left without homes and businesses in November 2021 after extreme rainfall brought a "historic flooding." Officials extended the province's state of emergency all the way until January 18, 2022, with numerous destructive deluges and landslides wreaking havoc. 

The summer's ferocious wildfires were partly to blame for the floods' impact as they had stripped hills of vegetation, making landslides all the more likely.

Toronto, Ontario

On January 17, 2022, Ontario experienced a “once-in-a-decade kind of storm” with snowfall and blizzard-like conditions blanketing downtown Toronto with 14 inches of snow by 2pm.

Toronto Pearson International Airport was also hit with 12.5 inches of snow that day, beating the previous daily record of three inches in 1994.

Ottawa, Ontario

Ottawa didn't fare much better. Some 1.96-4.72 inches of snow were dumped per hour, while Ottawa International Airport received 17.7 inches on the same day.

This made it the city's snowiest day since 2016 and the most snow to fall on January 17 since records began in 1873.

Howden, Manitoba

Extreme weather swings are another sad reality of climate change. In spring 2022, Manitoba experienced a drier-than-normal March, but the following month it recorded the second-wettest April in 151 years with four times the normal amount of rain.

Pictured here is the flooded hamlet of Howden, just south of Winnipeg, in 2022. Compare that to the wildly different summer of 2021, where the province recorded the driest July since 1873, and the extremes speak for themselves. Experts say that although this may not be a direct impact of climate change, it’s certainly a symptom of it – with heavy flooding only set to increase.

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Nova Scotia

In September 2022, Hurricane Fiona started in the Caribbean and made its way up to Canada, with heavy rain and wind hitting Nova Scotia on September 24.

Pictured here is one of the (many) devastated homes before Fiona spent the following days battering Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and parts of Québec. Boats and roads were severely damaged and the Category 4 hurricane was later named as the costliest storm in Canadian history, with damages totaling $488 million. 

Montreal, Québec

Winter is always cold in Canada, but in late January and early February 2023, a once-in-a-generation blast of Arctic wind brought temperatures down to dangerous levels.

At Montreal International Airport, the wind chill was measured at -41°F. Residents across eastern Canada (including Toronto) were under extreme cold advisories and schools were shut, but that didn't stop some people from going outside.

Montreal, Québec

Then, in April 2023, Québec was hit by another major ice storm – this time proving fatal. Montreal (pictured) was one of the worst-hit areas in the province. High winds toppled trees, tragically killing one person, and just under a million people were left without power.

The ice storm also reached Ontario, where around 110,000 were left without power and another person was sadly killed by a falling branch.

Ottawa, Ontario

In February 2023, the world's largest skating rink was unable to open for the first time in 50 years. Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway is UNESCO-listed and needs a steady temperature of 14°F to -4°F in order to freeze.

However, as the city recorded one of its warmest winters yet, the ice rink was deemed unsafe to use. Canada's environment minister described the skateway’s closure as "yet another example of how our climate is changing in Canada.”

British Columbia

Canada suffered its most devastating wildfire season between January and June 2023, with 3,056 blazes scorching some 20 million acres of land. Several provinces were affected, with smoke reaching as far as the European continent.

While wildfires aren't directly linked to the climate crisis, the hotter and drier conditions caused by the warming of the planet have made Canada’s forests prime targets. Pictured here is a fire sweeping across the northwest region of British Columbia.

Nova Scotia

From May 27, 2023, Nova Scotia battled its most catastrophic wildfires in recent history. On June 12, nearly 450 forest fires burnt across the country, with almost half out of control.

A spokesman from the Department of Natural Resources explained that the combination of high temperatures (above 86°F), low humidity, and powerful winds caused the wildfires to spread.

Vancouver Island, British Columbia

In late 2022, heavy rainfall in certain areas of the country helped increase salmon numbers, but the luck was reversed in July 2023 when devastating droughts hit British Columbia. Pictured here is a dried-up lakebed in Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, which should be flowing with water.

At the time of writing, British Columbia has received Drought Level 5 (the most severe rating), meaning that socio-economic and ecosystem values will "almost certainly" be heavily impacted. Scientists say this extreme weather “screams climate change,” explaining that cold and warm records should be equal.

Lake Okanagan, British Columbia

Since August 2023, rampant wildfires have ravaged western Canada and displaced hundreds of residents. Lake Okanagan, one of the region’s biggest lakes, was shrouded in thick smoke with fires “jumping” across the 1.5-mile-wide water. The British Columbia Premier, David Eby, said that the fires are “clearly linked to human-caused climate change.”

The wildfires are made worse by droughts, which the province has experienced for the last four consecutive years. Pictured here is a helicopter dropping water over McDougall Creek.

Boreal forest, Saskatchewan

The boreal forest sits just beneath the Arctic Circle and has been described as a "big carbon-storing hug"; it’s important for the climate and is home to over 20,000 species. Sadly, 120 wildfires have raged across the forest and other parts of northern Saskatchewan in the last five years, with 209 recorded in 2023 alone.

In May 2023, temperatures reached an unusual 86°F, making it the hottest and driest month on record in both Saskatchewan and Alberta – with climate change as a cause.

Boreal forest, Alberta

Neighboring Alberta has also seen swathes of its boreal forest destroyed by wildfires, as this image shows. There have been over 400 wildfires in 2023 alone, displacing around 30,000 people.

Alberta’s increasingly warmer and drier climates make wildfires here all the more likely, something experts have attributed to human-caused climate change.

Saskatchewan

In this striking image we see plumes of gas billowing into the skies. Research in 2024 has shown that Saskatchewan’s refineries emit nearly 20% of their gas into the atmosphere, 10 times more than the national average.

The same research suggests that the province’s methane levels are 30-40% higher than what the government predicted as well.

Hudson Bay

The 2024-2025 winter season saw delayed and reduced sea ice formation in this remote region of Canada, with Hudson Bay experiencing the lowest Arctic sea ice extent on record in December 2024.

Scenes like these two polar bears watching a pod of beluga whales pass by in Hudson Bay, will become increasingly common. Wildlife experts fear that the decreasing sea ice extent could result in a huge shift in dominant marine wildlife, with killer whales overtaking polar bears in the not-so-distant future.

Alberta

2024 was the costlier year ever for climate-induced weather disasters in Canada’s history. The country’s Insurance Bureau estimated losses at a staggering $6.1 billion, with the wildfires that tore through Alberta that summer a major contributing factor.

After an exceptionally hot and dry spring, the forests of Jasper National Park burnt out of control for close to three months consuming 80,858 acres of forest and causing $631 million worth of damage. Just on their own, the fires remain Canada's second-costliest wildfire disaster.

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Now read on for the reasons why we can no longer ignore climate change