There was a 25 per cent spike in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada between 1990 and 2005, Statistics Canada reports in a new study.

The jump, however, would have been much higher StatsCan reports, if significant efforts hadn't been made during that time to increase energy efficiency and reduce the emissions that fuel global warming.

Here are some key statistics from the 2007 and 2008 edition of StatsCan's Human Activity and the Environment, released to coincide with Earth Day:

• 1990: Canada releases 596 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• 2005: Canada releases 747 megatonnes of carbon dioxide

"One megatonne is equal to one million tonnes. To put this in perspective, driving a mid-size car about 5,000 kilometres results in about one tonne of emissions," the study says.

Interestingly, the amount of GHGs released "per unit of economic activity" actually decreased in that same period by 18 per cent.

However, Canada's population increased by 17 per cent and energy use ballooned by 23 per cent in that time.

On a global scale, Canada is lagging in terms of its environmental track record, the study suggests, with just over 23 tonnes of GHGs emitted per person in 2005 -- an increase of 8 per cent since 1990.

"Canada has about 0.5 per cent of the world's population, but contributes about 2 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions," the study says.

"This puts Canadians among the highest per capita emitters, largely as a result of the size of the country, the low density of the population, the high energy demands imposed by the climate, our resource-based economy, and the volume of goods we export."

The rate puts Canada in the same category as the U.S. in terms of emissions per person, but significantly behind Germany at 12.1 tonnes, the U.K. at 10.9, Japan at 10.6 and France at 9.2 tonnes.

By 2005, energy production and use accounted for more than 80 per cent of Canada's emissions.

Transportation activities accounted for 27 per cent of all Canadian emissions in that same year.

The amount of greenhouse gas emitted during the production of energy for export was greater than the GHGs emitted during the production of any other exported commodity -- increasing from 17 per cent to 27 per cent of all export production emissions over the 15-year period.

Climate change

The study also compares rising GHG emissions with rising temperatures in Canada, and shows a 1.4-degree Celsius increase in annual temperatures between 1948 and 2007, with the highest temperature increases in the Yukon, North British Columbia Mountains region and the Mackenzie District of the Northwest Territories.

"Glaciers in the Rocky Mountains are receding and thinning, resulting in decreases in flow during the critical driest months of the year in some rivers. Of the 853 glaciers inventoried in 1975 in the North and South Saskatchewan River basins, 328 have disappeared completely," the report states.

"The total glacial area of the North Saskatchewan River Basin declined 22 per cent from 1975 to 1998, while glacial cover decreased 36 per cent in the South Saskatchewan River Basin."