Canada’s forests are some of the largest in the world, and are very important to communities and economies across the country. They also affect our climate, while simultaneously being affected by it. Find out what a changing climate means for the forests of Canada.
Forests clean the air, water and soil. They support a huge population of plants and animals. They provide outdoor recreation opportunities and support traditional hunting and trapping lifestyles. They are a vital economic resource.
They are also vulnerable to climate change.
Canada’s forests are already showing the impact of our changing climate. Invasive insect pests, record-breaking wildfires, and drought have already taken a toll on trees across the country.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help our forests survive and preserve their capacity to defend against climate change.
Learn more about the hazards posed by climate change and how to help our forests prepare for the challenges of the future.
Terry Teegee is Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, and a registered professional forester.
He's seen first-hand how unsustainable forestry practices and disregard for traditional indigenous knowledge about forest ecosystems have worsened the impact of climate change.
"We’ve lost that real connection with the land, and I think we’re seeing the result of that," he says. “That why we’re seeing here, not only in British Columbia but around the world, climate change."
Forest fires make headlines across Canada every summer. They can devastate millions of acres of forest and sometimes threaten to wipe out entire communities.
Destructive fires have social, economic, and psychological impacts that linger long after people return home to resume their lives.
As climate change brings on longer, drier, warmer summers, Canadians will have to live with a growing risk of more frequent and more serious fires.
Learn about how fighting climate change can reduce this threat, what we can do to adapt to increasing wildfire risks in our warming climate.
Dr. Toddi Steelman researches connections between environmental science, public policy, and decision-making. She examines the devastating 2016 fire in Fort McMurray to learn how we can better protect ourselves from fire seasons that are becoming longer and more dangerous because of climate change.
“We’re at some kind of a tipping point in terms of how humans are interacting with their environment,” says Steelman. “What we need to do is to learn to coexist better with fire.”
Under normal conditions, forest pests and tree diseases can be natural agents of disturbance that promote forest health and diversity. Unfortunately, our warming climate is tipping the ecological balance and turning them into a worsening threat.
The most effective way to preserve our forests in the face of these threats is to take prompt and effective action to prevent climate change from accelerating.
The less warming that comes to pass, the less stress is placed on the natural world, and the less our forestry management practices will have to adapt to worsening risks such as invasive insect outbreaks.
Learn more about the connections between insect threats, forests, and our changing climate.
Cities and communities across Canada recognize the importance of healthy trees as an essential and valuable part of urban life. Urban forests are also a powerful resource that helps us adapt to climate change.
In the face of rising heat and the threat of extreme weather hazards, urban forests and green spaces can improve health and well-being, provide a buffer against heat extremes and dangerous weather events, and promote community resilience, all while helping us save money on costs such as air conditioning and stormwater management.
Unfortunately, climate change poses some tough challenges to Canada’s urban forests. Drought stress, insect pests, and shifts in heat and precipitation patterns are threatening urban trees across the country. Adapting to these changes will allow urban forests to continue to thrive and enhance the quality of life in a changing climate.
Learn more about the risks to our urban forests, and about what cities and urban foresters are doing to cultivate resilience in the face of climate change.
The Climate Atlas allows you to explore how climate change is likely to impact Canada’s vast and diverse forests.
Understanding the magnitude of these various changes and risks allows forest managers, emergency response coordinators, citizens, politicians, and planners to take meaningful action to mitigate and adapt.
See our “Climate Maps for Forests” page to learn more about projected climate changes that are especially relevant to Canada’s forests.
Climate change touches all of our lives, one way or another. Because it affects all aspects of modern life, there are many kinds of meaningful choices we can make that will help.
Climate change solutions start close to home, with simple actions in our own homes and families, but also involve new ways of thinking, planning, and acting in workplaces, neighbourhoods, and communities across the country.
See our "Take Action" topic for ideas and examples of innovative climate action taking place all across Canada.
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Stories and explanations about climate change, and local climate data that can be explored using maps and graphs.
High-resolution climate data to help decision makers build a more resilient Canada.
Advanced tools for academia, climate scenario developers, and other expert users.
This project was undertaken with the financial support of:
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