EDITORIAL: Cooling off the climate of fear

In its discussion of the burning planet, the essay says we need to take into consideration the big picture.

Published Oct 18, 2026  •  Last updated 4 hours ago  •  2 minute read

This picture taken on October 5, 2026, shows healthy coral growing in the waters of the Naidiri Marine Biodiversity Park, a marine protected area located about 52 kilometres from Nadi. Climate change is threatening the livelihoods of coastal communities in Fiji, with coral bleaching and habitat loss contributing to dwindling fish stocks. Photo by SAEED KHAN /AFP via Getty Images

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A recent research project published by the Fraser Institute provides a revealing statistical analysis of the hype around climate change and explains what the data show about its impact.

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Its author, Bjorn Lomborg, is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution who’s written several books about some of the alarmism over climate change.

“Climate change is undeniably one issue among many — but after years of apocalyptic warnings that the world is about to end, or that rising temperatures signal imminent, irreversible doom, the public is turning off,” says the report. It cites Angus Reid polls showing that climate has dropped from a top concern for 42% of Canadians in 2019 to 18% in 2025. Inflation and affordability are now top of mind for most of us.

The report comprises 15 essays, tackling topics such as “Are Natural Disasters Increasing Because of Climate Change?”; “No, the Planet is not on Fire”; and “We are hyping up rising heat deaths but Ignoring Declining Cold Deaths.”

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In its discussion of the burning planet, the essay says we need to take into consideration the big picture.

“Satellite data from NASA, which has been monitoring global fires 24/7 for over two decades through 2025, tells a different story from the lurid headlines. In the early 2000s, roughly three percent of the world’s land surface burned annually — an immense area equivalent to twice the size of Mexico. Since then, the trend has been downward,” the study says.

In 2022, the percentage was 2.17% burned, with 2025 close behind at about 2.2%, says the report. That represents a decline of more than a quarter in annual burned land. “This spares an area larger than Ontario from flames each year,” says the essay.

When it comes to deaths from natural disasters linked to climate change, the essay concludes that while one gets worse, the other gets better. There may be more deaths due to heat, but more people are spared death due to extreme cold. When it comes to increased precipitation due to global warming, the report points out that more water in rivers is also diverted for use in agriculture, industry and households, thus mitigating the risk of flooding.

The Chicken Littles may predict a climate Apocalypse. Statistics tell a different story.

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