Climate change

Oceans are the planet’s greatest carbon sink, absorbing up to 30 per cent of the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions fuelling the climate crisis. Photo of Deepwater Horizon fire / US Coast Guard / Wikipedia

Why do oceans matter for climate change?

Oceans store a huge portion of human-generated heat

  • Jan 12, 2023
Oceans are the planet’s greatest carbon sink, absorbing up to 30 per cent of the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions fuelling the climate crisis. Photo of Deepwater Horizon fire / US Coast Guard / Wikipedia
FILE - This undated image provided by the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shows the NIF Target Bay in Livermore, Calif. The system uses 192 laser beams converging at the center of this giant sphere to make a tiny hydrogen fuel pellet implode. (Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via AP, File)

OPINION: Nuclear fusion may change our world but renewable energy sources will save it: experts

Harnessing nuclear fusion could take more than 40 years, while some solutions already exist

  • Jan 8, 2023
FILE - This undated image provided by the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shows the NIF Target Bay in Livermore, Calif. The system uses 192 laser beams converging at the center of this giant sphere to make a tiny hydrogen fuel pellet implode. (Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via AP, File)
A person jogs along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. One extreme weather expert says the current spell of mild winter temperatures felt in Ontario are becoming more frequent across Canada due to climate change. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Climate change causing more frequent warm winter temperatures: extreme weather expert

Destabilization of polar vortex caused by global warming contributing to extreme temperatures

A person jogs along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. One extreme weather expert says the current spell of mild winter temperatures felt in Ontario are becoming more frequent across Canada due to climate change. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
A coat of fresh snow is seen on a mountain the morning after a winter storm pelted the region with a large amount of snow, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

California snowpack off to great start amid severe drought

Past 3 years in California have been the driest ever recorded

A coat of fresh snow is seen on a mountain the morning after a winter storm pelted the region with a large amount of snow, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Canadian environmental groups have filed a complaint against Sustainable Forestry Initiative, claiming the company is not in fact following sustainable practices. (Credit: Pixabay)

Greenwashing complaint filed against Canada’s biggest certifier of sustainable forestry

Sustainable Forestry Initiative not actually following any criteria, critics say

  • Dec 28, 2022
Canadian environmental groups have filed a complaint against Sustainable Forestry Initiative, claiming the company is not in fact following sustainable practices. (Credit: Pixabay)
A consultant is calling for higher dikes in the Cowichan River to deal with more severe flooding events. (Black Press fie photo).

Consultant calls for higher dikes on Cowichan River

Work meant to help deal with more extreme flooding

A consultant is calling for higher dikes in the Cowichan River to deal with more severe flooding events. (Black Press fie photo).
FILE - A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun during a hot sunny day in Madrid, Spain, Monday, July 18, 2022. Spain’s national weather service said preliminary data indicates that 2022 will finish with average daily temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records started in 1961. It says that the four hottest years on record for the southern European country have all come since 2015. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Spain records hottest year ever in 2022

4 hottest years on record for the southern European country have all come since 2015

FILE - A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun during a hot sunny day in Madrid, Spain, Monday, July 18, 2022. Spain’s national weather service said preliminary data indicates that 2022 will finish with average daily temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records started in 1961. It says that the four hottest years on record for the southern European country have all come since 2015. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
The Coquitlam Glacier is shown in this 2022 handout photo. On a mountain high above the residents of Metro Vancouver, tucked inside a north-facing gully, the region’s last remaining glacier is disappearing fast. The Coquitlam Glacier has survived 4,000 to 5,000 years thanks to its sheltered location on the east side of the Coquitlam watershed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Metro Vancouver

‘Glaciers can’t get a break’: How climate change is affecting Canada’s icy landscape

Several Western Canadian glaciers under watch as warming temperatures contribute to the melt

The Coquitlam Glacier is shown in this 2022 handout photo. On a mountain high above the residents of Metro Vancouver, tucked inside a north-facing gully, the region’s last remaining glacier is disappearing fast. The Coquitlam Glacier has survived 4,000 to 5,000 years thanks to its sheltered location on the east side of the Coquitlam watershed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Metro Vancouver
Delegates take souvenir photos during a snowfall outside the convention centre at the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Governments move closer to deal at biodiversity conference

China’s draft deal calls for greater protection, $200B raised by 2030

Delegates take souvenir photos during a snowfall outside the convention centre at the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The Peace Tower is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 2013. Canada’s climate adaptation strategy is underfunded and does not clearly lay out how its targets align with the country’s top climate change risks, a new report says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canada’s climate action plan underfunded, unclear regarding top risks: report

Report makes 11 recommendations to improve federal government’s draft $1.6-billion strategy

The Peace Tower is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 2013. Canada’s climate adaptation strategy is underfunded and does not clearly lay out how its targets align with the country’s top climate change risks, a new report says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
A convoy of support snowmobiles with qamutiks in tow, head toward the first Nunavut Quest camp, roughly 50km outside of Arctic Bay, Nunavut on Monday, April 18, 2022. A new report details how widespread changes in the Arctic, from warming air temperatures to sea-ice loss, have affected animals, plants and people living there. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar

‘Extreme shifts:’ New report details effects of changing Arctic climate

Temperatures between October 2021 and September 2022 were the sixth warmest on record since 1900

A convoy of support snowmobiles with qamutiks in tow, head toward the first Nunavut Quest camp, roughly 50km outside of Arctic Bay, Nunavut on Monday, April 18, 2022. A new report details how widespread changes in the Arctic, from warming air temperatures to sea-ice loss, have affected animals, plants and people living there. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar
Montreal mayor Valerie Plante delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Big cities have a major role to play in protecting biodiversity, experts say

Increasing native plants and animals and decreasing contaminants, among actions cities can take

Montreal mayor Valerie Plante delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Greenpeace activists hoist a banner titled “Protect Nature, Protect Life,” in Montreal, Thursday, December 8, 2022, as COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference, continues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Efforts to protect nature at COP15 will fail without Indigenous people, leaders say

‘Indigenous governance and guardianship has been more effective than protected areas.’

Greenpeace activists hoist a banner titled “Protect Nature, Protect Life,” in Montreal, Thursday, December 8, 2022, as COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference, continues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A parcel of land on the Sahtlam Tree Farm is seen, in the Cowichan Valley area of Duncan, B.C., on Saturday, July 31, 2021. The effects of climate change are taking a toll on Christmas tree farms in British Columbia and beyond, and one forestry expert says the sector that’s already shrinking will need to adapt in the coming years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Climate change affecting Christmas trees in B.C. and beyond: expert

Drought, extreme heat making it difficult for seedlings to grow

A parcel of land on the Sahtlam Tree Farm is seen, in the Cowichan Valley area of Duncan, B.C., on Saturday, July 31, 2021. The effects of climate change are taking a toll on Christmas tree farms in British Columbia and beyond, and one forestry expert says the sector that’s already shrinking will need to adapt in the coming years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Trudeau was unequivocal Wednesday when asked if Canada was going to meet its goal to protect one-quarter of all Canadian land and oceans by 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

As nature talks unfold, here’s what ‘30 by 30’ conservation could mean in Canada

‘I am happy to say that we are going to meet our ‘25 by 25’ target’: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Trudeau was unequivocal Wednesday when asked if Canada was going to meet its goal to protect one-quarter of all Canadian land and oceans by 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Protestors gathered outside Government House in Victoria on Dec. 7, 2022 to fight against proposals that would see an expansion in the fossil-fuel industry in B.C. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)

Environmental alliance calls for end to fracking as Eby swears in new cabinet

Members staged demonstration at Government House in Victoria ahead of swearing-in ceremony

Protestors gathered outside Government House in Victoria on Dec. 7, 2022 to fight against proposals that would see an expansion in the fossil-fuel industry in B.C. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)
The City of Colwood has taken two new steps along its path to make the community more environmentally friendly. (Black Press Media file photo)

Colwood takes next step toward climate change goals

The city approved moving to the third stage of the BC Energy Step Code

The City of Colwood has taken two new steps along its path to make the community more environmentally friendly. (Black Press Media file photo)
TJ Watt stands beside a giant red cedar tree, left, before (in September of 2021) and after (in May of 2022) it was cut in an old-growth forest in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht First Nation territory on Vancouver Island, B.C. in this combination handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, TJ Watt

Giant trees still fall amid old-growth funding lag for B.C. First Nations

Funding is intended to give First Nations a means of pursuing revenue sources outside of forestry

TJ Watt stands beside a giant red cedar tree, left, before (in September of 2021) and after (in May of 2022) it was cut in an old-growth forest in the Caycuse watershed in Ditidaht First Nation territory on Vancouver Island, B.C. in this combination handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, TJ Watt
Damage from post-tropical storm Fiona at the wharf in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. on Sunday September 25, 2022. The federal government's new national adaptation strategy seeks to help Canadians withstand the floods, fires and heat waves climate change is expected to unleash. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis

Climate Changed: Adaptation strategy commits funds to fight heat, floods, fires

Plan adds $489 million to the federal disaster mitigation and adaptation fund over 10 years

Damage from post-tropical storm Fiona at the wharf in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. on Sunday September 25, 2022. The federal government's new national adaptation strategy seeks to help Canadians withstand the floods, fires and heat waves climate change is expected to unleash. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis
A lobster boat grounded on the rocks at the wharf in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. on September 25, 2022 after post-tropical storm Fiona. Tides are rising, sands are shifting and coastlines are crumbling. As studies warn of rising seas and accelerated erosion resulting from climate change, coastal communities in Canada are wondering what the future holds. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis

Climate Changed: Rising oceans, storm surges ‘disaster in slow motion’ for coasts

Seas have risen about 20 cm since the beginning of the 20th century

A lobster boat grounded on the rocks at the wharf in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. on September 25, 2022 after post-tropical storm Fiona. Tides are rising, sands are shifting and coastlines are crumbling. As studies warn of rising seas and accelerated erosion resulting from climate change, coastal communities in Canada are wondering what the future holds. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brian McInnis