Climate Change's Toll: $5B a Year by 2020

Forest fires, floods, and heatwaves could soon cost Canada billions a year in damages.

A new report from the federal government suggests climate change could cost Canada as much as $5 billion a year by 2020, and potentially as much as $91 billion a year by 2050. The report, prepared by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, concludes that ecological damage incurred by rising global temperatures will soon start hitting government coffers in a big way. Hotter temperatures mean an increase in forest fires, pests that decimate forests, and higher water levels that threaten to flood the coasts of the country. In addition, heat waves pose serious health risks to the elderly and infirm, and could lead to more hospitalizations and deaths in the future. The roundtable, made up of academics, business leaders, and environmental researchers, said that there is a five per cent chance that all of these threats could end up costing the government nearly $100 billion a year by 2050 unless measures are undertaken to curb climate change.