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It was a year of large wildfires, deadly hurricanes and other climate disasters in 2025.
Two CBC meteorologists spoke to the What On Earth podcast about a year of devastation fuelled by human-caused climate change — but also what they’re hopeful for heading into 2026.
Ryan Snoddon, CBC’s meteorologist in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, highlighted the worst wildfire season on record in Newfoundland and Labrador as an example of how climate change is affecting communities.
He also brought up how warmer winters are leading to the proliferation of invasive Japanese beetles in Nova Scotia as an example of slower-moving climate shifts.
“They’re surviving through the winter season and they were wreaking havoc on my garden and numerous other gardens here in Nova Scotia,” Snoddon told Laura Lynch, host of CBC’s What On Earth.
Ferocious fires, monster storms and epic floods. But there were some climate bright spots in 2025 as well. CBC meteorologists Ryan Snoddon and Johanna Wagstaffe join What on Earth host Laura Lynch to break down how human-caused climate change influenced this year’s weather.
»»» Listen to the full What On Earth episode here :
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-429-what-on-earth/clip/16186078-our-forecasters-look-back-year-weather-climate
What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Johanna Wagstaffe, a senior CBC meteorologist based in Vancouver, brought up the deadly back-to-back typhoons that hit the Philippines as one climate disaster she had her eye on in 2025.
She also brought up how generative artificial intelligence is slowly being integrated into weather modelling and forecasting, especially among larger weather agencies.
In terms of what they’re hopeful for on the climate front, Snoddon said he had seen firsthand how communities came together in the face of extreme weather.
Wagstaffe noted that the ozone hole over Antarctica was the smallest and shortest-lived since 2019.
“Satellite data shows that that hole is forming later, closing earlier. And this is all, of course, the effects of banned ozone-depleting chemicals,” she said.
