Still wondering if global warming is a myth waiting to be confirmed? In 1989, the United Nations asked a group of more than 2,000 climate scientists from around the world to investigate climate change. This group, which forms the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has confirmed that global warming is, indeed, a real and serious issue that must be addressed immediately.
Climate and Energy
Global warming, or climate change, is the biggest environmental threat to life on Earth - including our own. Global warming is wreaking havoc with the natural systems that regulate the earth’s climate. It is melting glaciers and ice caps on every continent, creating heat waves, and dehydrating forests and wetlands. It is affecting the lives of every creature on the planet, including yours.
Global warming's impact on Canada
Some people may think of global warming as a distant phenomenon that's happening in other parts of the world. But Canada is warming too – faster than the global rate. Learn more about global warming's impact on Canada.
Hybrid Vehicle
Solution – Greening Transportation
Producing and using fuel for our transportation sector is the largest, and fastest rising, source of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. WWF-Canada’s goal is to encourage the widespread adoption of cleaner forms of transportation that are fuelled by renewable energy. Read more...
Your impact on global warming
Individually and as part of a large collective, your choices and actions affect the course of climate change.Find out more about what you can do for a Living Planet.
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Living Planet Community
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Why we care about climate change
Climate change threatens to undo everything that conservation organizations like WWF have achieved over the last half-century. Polar bears may make the headlines, but in reality very few species will be unaffected by a changing climate. Many species could become extinct. Even entire ecosystems - such as coral reefs, mountain habitats, and large blocks of tropical rainforests such as the Amazon - could completely disappear.Many plants and animals that have adapted to their environment over millions of years are vulnerable to even slight changes in temperature and rainfall. Warming and acidifying seas threaten coral reefs and krill - the basis of the marine food chain in many parts of the wold. Large mammals like whales and elephants may be forced to travel further in search of food, leaving the safety of the protected areas that WWF and others have fought so hard to secure.
As part of the interwoven web of life, humans will not be immune to the consequences of a changing climate. WWF's mission is to protect the magnificent array of living things that inhabit our planet to create a healthy and prosperous future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Solving the energy crisis is fundamental to this, whatever tough choices and challenges it brings.
"We predict, on the basis of mid-range climate warming scenarios for 2050, that 15-37% of species in our sample of regions and taxa will be 'committed to extinction'"
Thomas C.D. et al, 2004, Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, Vol 427, No.8
The Energy Report
100% renewable energy by 2050. Read the report now.
At WWF-Canada, we focus on regions that promise big returns.
FPAC
Windmill, close-up. Wind Farm at Castilla-La Mancha, Central Spain
Cold Facts
- In the last century, the global average temperature has risen by about 0.7C. By the end of this century, temperatures can be expected to soar by up to 5.8ºC if we don’t reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.
- Energy production and use accounts for more than 80 per cent of global warming gas emissions. The remainder is primarily from deforestation.
- Producing and using transportation fuels are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
- The Tar Sands are the fastest rising source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Funding from Ontario Trillium Foundation supports WWF-Canada's work on reducing greenhouse gases by maximizing the potential contribution from high-efficiency co-generation power projects. Co-generation plants recycle what would otherwise be waste energy into useful heat or electricity.