"This year in Canada, we experienced numerous extreme weather events, such as the floods in Calgary and Toronto," said David Suzuki Foundation science and policy manager Ian Bruce. "This shows how vulnerable our communities are if climate change is allowed to intensify. The IPCC report suggests that if we continue with business as usual in terms of rising carbon emissions, we will become even more vulnerable. But the report says we still have a choice; we can act to reverse the trend in emissions growth."

The study, the fifth major assessment from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), projects a bleak future of rising sea levels, more intense and frequent heat waves, destructive droughts and floods, as well as more acidic oceans that will be less capable of supporting marine life.