The Earth is warming up, and in the process creating the perfect conditions for heavy precipitation and other severe weather, Canada's top climatologist says.

The federal government has released its long-term climate strategy with a caution that most Canadians - while sympathetic to the cause - don't yet understand the "magnitude of the challenge."

If humans continue on living as they do now, Earth's temperature will warm by a devastating 5 C by 2100, new research has found, resulting in a world of draught, flooding, ravaged food supply, and disappearing species.