The Impacts

The impacts of climate change will vary from region to region across the province and country, and around the world.

Altered weather conditions and extreme weather events pose threats to:

• our lakes, forests and farms;
• plant and animal species; and
• human health and safety.

Ontario can expect:

• more extremely hot days (above 35oC), increasing the risk of heat-stress-related illness among the old, the young and those with chronic lung diseases like asthma;
• less snow, but more freezing rain—a threat to transmission lines, road and airline safety;
• changes in wildlife habitats and crop yields, requiring more irrigation and increasing the risk of warm climate diseases like West Nile and malaria; and
• a drop in Great Lakes water levels by as much as one metre by 2050, which will affect shipping, fisheries, water quality, water intake systems and shoreline property.