Keyword History

Darrin Qualman is a writer and researcher – with extensive farming experience – and who has been doing some long-term thinking about agriculture, climate change and energy system. Given the large-scale and costly use of nitrogen fertilizer, fossil fuels and other inputs in agriculture, he has determined that it takes about 13.3 calories to make every calorie we eat. For Qualman, the solutions to climate change and the farm income crisis is to shift away from high-input, high-energy agriculture.

Earth’s climate has changed many times and many ways. We know a lot about the natural causes and effects of ancient climate change, and this knowledge helps us state with confidence that modern climate change is a product of human activity.

Earth has warmed by 1 °C in just over 100 years. Damon Matthews, a climatologist from Concordia University, describes how this change in temperature is both human-caused and unparalleled in geologic history. Taking us through the evidence of our warming climate, Matthews discusses what these changes mean for Canada and suggests that the case for a dramatic policy response is very clear.