Canada’s Arctic is warming faster than expected

CHURCHILL, MAN.—Hudson Bay, second in size only to the Bay of Bengal, brings the Arctic deep into Canada. I live in Churchill, a tiny community of about 800 on the tundra beside the bay. Churchill is the Polar Bear Capital of the World. In October and November, tourists flock here from around the world to see polar bears gather near town waiting for the ice to freeze, so they can go back onto the ice where they feed on seals. The bears have not eaten since they came off the ice in July. Instead of moving onto the ice, the pregnant females move in land to find dens to birth and nurse their cubs, and do not return to the Bay until the next March. With the planet warming, Hudson Bay is ice-free for more days every year, and the bears go hungry for longer. This is taking a toll, especially on the pregnant and lactating polar bears who go hungry for eight months. They used to birth two or three cubs and sometimes even four. Now they are birthing one or two cubs. And the birth of two cubs is increasingly rare. Polar Bear International’s surveys show that the polar bear population in Hudson Bay has decreased about 30 per cent since the 1980s. Some populations have dropped more precipitously. The Southern Beaufort population dropped about 40 per cent over 10 years. The population drop is directly related to the Arctic’s longer ice-free season. In less than half a century, the average annual temperature of the Arctic has warmed by more than 3C. This is three times as fast as the rest of the planet. Canada, as a whole, is warming twice as fast. This warming is faster than expected. Ironically, while Canadians are feeling the effects of climate change more than other parts of the world, we are also causing much more than our share of climate change. While the rest of the world is increasingly switching to greener, cleaner technologies and policies, Canada continues to lag behind. Canada’s most recent climate change reduction commitment, made in 2021, calls for a 40 to 45 per cent reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2030. This target is stronger than its previous commitment, but it lags behind the commitments that our peers made at the same time, including the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan. Canada’s fair share including both current and historic emissions would require a reduction of 60 per cent. Canada lags in other ways too. Canada is among the top 10 global GHG emitters as well as one of the largest per capita emitters of GHGs in the world. We are among the highest emitters historically, as well. We have failed to meet any of our international GHG reduction commitments over the decades. Of particular note, Canada’s green house gas emissions increased 20.9 per cent between 1990 and 2020, and Canada is the only G7 country to see its emissions rise since the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. In contrast, the UK’s emissions fell 30 per cent over the two-decade time-frame. Canadian government after Canadian government has failed to make a difference over the decades. Canada has failed to make progress in spite of the increasing urgency by world leaders and scientists who warn that the world is running out of time to keep the earth’s temperatures within safe limits. In 2021, Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency’s executive director stated that “If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now—from this year.” This spring, UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres told the world that the dangerous radicals are not the climate activists. He said that "The truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuel. Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness." After decades of being ignored, scientists are increasingly fearful and desperate that their message of impending climate disaster has not been heard. Shortly after the UNSG spoke, more than 1000 scientists in 26 countries undertook acts of peaceful civil disobedience and risked arrest to draw attention to the dire situation we are facing. Yet, the Government of Canada still approved Bay du Nord, Canada’s first remote deep water oil project and provided a $10-billion loan guarantee for Trans Mountain to help the company finish its pipeline expansion. When I heard the news, I thought about the mother polar bear with two cubs that I saw last fall. She was waiting on the shore for Hudson Bay to freeze. She was in dire straits, emaciated and lethargic. Canada continues to ignore the science and that places all of us, not just the polar bears, in peril. Diane Beckett is a sustainability consultant addressing climate and biodiversity issues for governments and non-governmental organizations across Canada and internationally. In her spare time, she watches the Northern lights, respectfully kayaks with belugas and observes polar bears, and hikes, snowshoes and cross-country skis on the tundra. The Hill Times

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Canada’s Arctic is warming faster than expected

Canada has failed to make progress in spite of the increasing urgency by world leaders and scientists who warn that the world is running out of time to keep the Earth’s temperatures within safe limits.

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