Natural Resources Canada

The percentage of subcompact cars in the total sales of light-duty vehicles with the model year 1990 is shown on this map for the populated areas. Light-duty vehicles include all cars and light trucks. There is a significant spatial variation for the market share of subcompact cars with the model...

Sensitivity of the coastlines of Canada to the expected rise in sea level is shown on the map. Sensitivity here means the degree to which a coastline may experience physical changes such as flooding, erosion, beach migration, and coastal dune destabilization. Climate warming is expected to cause...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 1980 to 1989, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2050 to 2059, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2090 to 2099, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

The sensitivity of peatlands to climate warming is shown on this map. Peatlands are massive deposits of peat, a material consisting largely of organic residue that acts as a natural sink for carbon. With global warming, however, they have the potential to become immense sources of greenhouse...

The most sensitive river regions include the Atlantic coast, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Valley regions, the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies. The sensitivity projection for Canada's river regions in response to climate warming was derived based on an examination of the effects of projected...

Wind erosion risk for unprotected soils in areas sensitive to climatic change is shown on this map. The regions that would have the highest sensitivity to a warming climate are likely to occur in the southern and central Prairies and in the southernmost part of Ontario. This risk of wind erosion...

Renewable energy refers to several energy sources that all produce electrical, thermal, or mechanical energy without unnecessarily depleting resources. The renewable energy sources are generally classified as water, biomass, wind, solar, earth and energy from wastes. Renewable energy case studies...

The regional pattern of greenhouse gas emissions for 1998 is shown on this map. The map also shows regional emissions per capita, in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per habitant in each region. Carbon dioxide emissions are a large part, at least 55%, of the total greenhouse gas emissions...

Regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by sectors of the economy for 1998 are shown here. The map also shows the regional carbon intensity measured in tonnes of CO2-equivalent to per million dollars of Real Domestic Product. The share of economic sectors in the total regional GHG emissions...

The regional trends of greenhouse gas emissions for the period 1990 to 2020 are shown here. Also shown is a projection of regional carbon intensity in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide per million dollars of Real Domestic Product. This map shows long-term greenhouse gas emissions growth on a...

A drainage basin is an area that drains all precipitation received as a runoff or base flow (groundwater sources) into a particular river or set of rivers. Canada’s major drainage regions are the Atlantic Ocean, Hudson Bay, Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico. A lake can be defined as...

Glaciers and icefields are huge masses of ice, formed on land by the compaction and re-crystallization of snow, that move very slowly down slopes, or move outward due to their own weight. In Canada, an estimated area of 200 000 square kilometres, or about 2% of the country’s area is covered by...

Groundwater is water found beneath the earth’s surface and located at the water table below. In Canada, there is more water underground than on the surface. Groundwater occurs in the tiny spaces between loose materials on top of bedrock, or in cracks of bedrock. The most important concentrations...

Wetlands are lands permanently or temporarily submerged or permeated by water, and characterized by plants adapted to saturated-soil conditions. Wetlands are the only ecosystem designated for conservation by international convention because they absorb the impact of hydrologic events, filter...

In 1996 Statistics Canada conducted a survey in nature-related activities on the Importance of Nature to Canadians. The map combines the data for these three boat types, classed by major watershed. It shows that the amount of usage across Canada is closely correlated to population, but also that...

In 1996, 9.3% of Canadians made use of a power boat. The map shows the number of trips where a powerboat was used. The range of recreational activities is diverse, ranging from cruising, across to cottages, to fishing and water sports. The large number of powerboats in Canada had lead to many...

Fishing is popular throughout Canada, but in the more remote parts of the country it is a major part of the local economy. Frequency of participation in recreational fishing has a strong relationship to the distribution of population, but the northern areas for which there is data also have a...

Swimming is one of the uses of freshwater. The map shows the amount of participation as mapped by major watershed. Not surprisingly, the highest absolute numbers occur in southern Canada.