WORLD FOSSIL FUEL USE HITS RECORD HIGH IN 2024
Wildfire smoke blankets Winnipeg | CTV News Winnipeg at Five for July 11, 2025
Climate Consequences Across Canada
Much of Manitoba — including Winnipeg and Brandon in the south and Thompson in the north — is under air-quality warnings today due to smoke from widespread wildfires. Several events have been canceled in and around Winnipeg because of dangerous smoke conditions.
As of 3 p.m., Winnipeg's Air Quality Health Index remained at the “very high risk” 10+ level. It was forecast to drop to Level 7 — the “high risk” range — on Saturday night, but climb back into the 10+ range by Sunday afternoon. Much of the smoke is coming from fires in the northern part of the province.
Meanwhile, several areas of Saskatchewan are in severe drought conditions, with farmers expecting to lose much of their crops — and a lot of money — as they have received less than half of the expected rainfall this year. These drought conditions have persisted in some parts of the province for several years now.
Fires continue to rage across the western provinces. The year 2025 has already proven to be a very bad fire year, as the impacts of climate change — driven by increased fossil fuel use — grow worse.
Reducing Waste and Consumption: The Only Solution?
The only seeming solution to the climate change crisis is to reduce the consumption of greenhouse gas-producing activities. However, that is not happening in Canada. Instead, federal and provincial governments are promoting more pipelines, more oil, more fracking, LNG, mining, and other high-emission industries.
At the same time, few individuals appear willing to cut back on driving, flying, or overall consumption. This means that demand for fossil fuels continues to grow, both in Canada and worldwide.
Record-Breaking Heat in Europe
Meanwhile, in Europe, Western Europe just experienced its warmest June on record. Two major heatwaves brought “very strong heat stress” to large parts of western and southern Europe, with “extreme heat stress” reported in parts of Portugal.
Spain experienced its warmest June in 64 years.
England reported its highest June temperatures since data recording began in 1884.
An exceptional marine heatwave in the western Mediterranean Sea in June led to the highest daily sea surface temperature ever recorded for that month:
27.0°C — 3.7°C above average.
The Urgency of Now
It is widely believed that it may already be too late to avoid a major climate change disaster — not just for humanity but for many other species as well.
Yet, it would still be extremely wise to immediately reduce fossil fuel consumption as much as possible, and as quickly as we can, to lessen the scale of the catastrophe.
But as of now, that clearly is not yet happening.
