More and more developing countries are consuming more and more fossil fuels, and that means more carbon in the sky. Thousands of kilometers away, Canada inhales the bequest of the world's modernization. The Great Warming connects us all. Over 31 million of us live in Canada , priding ourselves on enduring one of the world's harshest climates, but to live here we burn fossil fuels, making Canada , per capita, one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the world.

At 37, scientist, Dr. Kirsty Duncan, has been studying the effects of climate change on human health, and in her case, it's also up close and personal: "I'm an athlete, I train everyday, and I'm also an asthmatic. And there have been days when I've run a full 26 mile marathon, and the next day wasn't able to climb the stairs, not because I was stiff, but because there was a smog alert, and I couldn't breathe. Canada has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and it's on the increase, asthma is currently the most common chronic disease in children, and between 1980 and 1990 - warmer temperatures, more smog - we saw an increase in asthma hospitalizations: 28% for boys, 18% for girls. The personal tragedies and the impacts on an already overstressed health care system will be staggering."

Carbon pollution is rising, and will continue to rise as the world's appetite for energy increases. The world's cheapest, most abundant energy source is coal. It's also one of the dirtiest. 20% of Canada 's electricity and over 50% of the USA 's is generated by coal. At current rates of use we can continue to burn coal for the next 200 to 300 hundred years, releasing billions of tons of additional carbon into Earth's atmosphere. Multiply the aspirations across the globe's developing countries, and the forecast is frightening. From Beijing to Bangladesh , the Industrial Revolution is just beginning - right on time to accelerate The Great Warming.

The summer of 2002 was one of the smoggiest on record in southern Ontario , the most densely populated area of Canada . Now imagine a future where that becomes a norm by 2016 and beyond, and where smog warnings are issued in nearly every corner of the globe. Like Southeast Asia , which in 2002 endured a toxic cloud 3 kilometers high and half the width of North America for months. As temperatures climb, the incidence of smog increases. Moving to the country won't help, because smog loses none of its toxicity as it drifts in the sun from its urban source. "One research model predicts that at the current rate of temperature increases by 2050, there could be a smog alert every second day in Ontario ," says Dr. Duncan.

As a young child, Kirsty remembers when heavy snowfalls shut down her school. And as a cross country skier, she remembers that for 8 years there wasn't enough snow on the ground for her to even wax her skis. As a teacher, she believes that we need to encourage young people to embark on careers in a wide range of scientific disciplines, to make science fun by sparking their natural curiosity and helping them develop a passion and commitment to learn and come up with new solutions for old problems. She puts her ideas into practice and it's working.

"I asked my 400 university students to submit a paper by the end of the week telling me what they had done in their daily lives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and told them that they would not receive any marks for their participation. Nine out of ten students handed in their papers, and I was astonished and encouraged by their commitment and their ideas." When Kirsty visits schools to speak to younger children, she brings along a tree that they plant together, making them a part of the solution to global warming.

The Great Warming will affect the health of everyone in one way or another. In fact, it's already pushing some of nature's own little particles into our lungs. One of the unexpected impacts of just carbon dioxide fertilization of plants has been that with experiments on ragweed, with doubling of ambient CO 2 , scientists found that the growth went up 9 or 10%, while the pollen production went up 61%, so the carbon dioxide may disproportionately affect those species that are weedy and produce allergens, affecting hay fever and asthma.

The problems of global warming are so overwhelming, Kirsty believes that we can best empower people by asking them to make small changes in our daily habits which can be really easy, and can become a part of our normal every day lives. "I believe in small changes causing big ripples. For example, car pool, ride your bike or take public transit. If you can, work one day a week from home, and use the internet or the telephone for conference calls instead of going to meetings. When driving, make sure that you car is well tuned, with the right tire pressure; and stick to the speed limit, avoid idling, and abrupt stops and starts. All of this saves fuel, money, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions."

The list goes on: "Recycling, reuse and reduce packaging. Make certain that your house is well insulated. Wear an extra sweater, lower the heat in your home, and install and maintain a high efficiency furnace. Use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances, and blinds and awnings for shades to reduce your air conditioning use. Plant trees and gardens which absorb carbon dioxide and breathe oxygen. All of these steps will help your pocketbook and reduce the amount of harmful gases entering your community. If each family across Canada took part in these simple steps, it would make a world of difference for all of us."

When she is not running marathons, Kirsty is an accomplished Highland dancer and volunteers to help children at risk. In 1998, she organized an expedition to Norway to collect tissue samples from victims buried in the permafrost on a remote island who had died from the 1918 flu epidemic in the hopes of creating a new flu vaccine. This fascinating story is chronicled in her book: "Hunting the 1918 Flu: One Scientist's Search for A Killer Virus" (available in book stores and at www.amazon.ca)

Now an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and a senior member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Kirsty Duncan is one of the local heroes featured in The Great Warming, a three part documentary. The first episode will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel on Earth Day, 22 nd April 2004.