Climate change

People skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway on Saturday, March 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

‘The weather got the best of us:’ Ottawa’s Rideau Canal Skateway to stay closed

Warmer-than-usual temperatures, snow and rain caused the ice to be thin and porous

People skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway on Saturday, March 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
As climate change pushes some plants northward, a new study suggests several unique species in Yukon and Alaska could have nowhere to go. Snow-covered hills in the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon Territories, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Rick Bowmer

Climate change could leave Yukon plants with nowhere to go: study

Some plants expected to lose nearly all suitable habitat within the next two decades

As climate change pushes some plants northward, a new study suggests several unique species in Yukon and Alaska could have nowhere to go. Snow-covered hills in the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon Territories, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Rick Bowmer
President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair rises during Question Period, Monday, October 31, 2022 in Ottawa. Canada’s overworked disaster assistance program is being overhauled so in the future recovery projects are only eligible for aid if they take the need to adapt to climate change into account. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Federal disaster aid program being overhauled to include climate adaptation

Costs soaring as climate change increases both the frequency and severity of events

President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair rises during Question Period, Monday, October 31, 2022 in Ottawa. Canada’s overworked disaster assistance program is being overhauled so in the future recovery projects are only eligible for aid if they take the need to adapt to climate change into account. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A pedestrian shields themselves from rain and wind during a rainfall warning in Halifax on Thursday, January 26, 2023. The East Coast’s whipsaws between freeze and thaw has complicated life for the Canada Winter Games, as athletes and organizations adapt to what climate scientists say is the new reality of less snow.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Organizers, athletes adapt to warming climate before and during Canada Winter Games

Changing weather makes maintaining ice and snow difficult

A pedestrian shields themselves from rain and wind during a rainfall warning in Halifax on Thursday, January 26, 2023. The East Coast’s whipsaws between freeze and thaw has complicated life for the Canada Winter Games, as athletes and organizations adapt to what climate scientists say is the new reality of less snow.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Deepsea fragile pink sea urchin aggregating to feed on decaying seaweed at the Endeavour site during a 2016 expedition, is seen in this image provided February 7, 2023. Pink urchins like these are expanding their territory into shallower B.C. water. Researchers say the movement is a sign of how fast climate change is impacting life in the water. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ocean Networks Canada/WHOI

B.C’s pink sea urchins are on the move to shallower waters thanks to climate change

Climate change and ‘The Blob’ is changing the way these fragile sea creatures behave

Deepsea fragile pink sea urchin aggregating to feed on decaying seaweed at the Endeavour site during a 2016 expedition, is seen in this image provided February 7, 2023. Pink urchins like these are expanding their territory into shallower B.C. water. Researchers say the movement is a sign of how fast climate change is impacting life in the water. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ocean Networks Canada/WHOI
A BC Ferries vessel approaches the Saltery Bay terminal on the Sunshine Coast. (John McKinley file)

Water restrictions lifted on Sunshine Coast as disastrous drought sidestepped

In October, the regional district said its reservoir was at risk of ‘imminent exhaustion’

A BC Ferries vessel approaches the Saltery Bay terminal on the Sunshine Coast. (John McKinley file)
A person jogs next to a backdrop of the Montreal skyline as ice fog rises off the St. Lawerence River in Montreal, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for the region. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Montreal shelters prepare as extreme cold warnings hit Eastern Canada, Maritimes

‘Vigorous’ cold front will stay into Saturday, wind chill of around -40 C puts people at risk.

A person jogs next to a backdrop of the Montreal skyline as ice fog rises off the St. Lawerence River in Montreal, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for the region. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
People skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway on Saturday, March 5, 2022. Canada’s largest skating rink has officially broken it’s record for the latest opening date - but it hasn’t opened yet. The National Capital Commission announced on social media today that the last time the canal opened this late was Feb. 2, 2002, but as the years have progressed the seasons have gotten shorter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Rideau Canal, world’s largest skating rink, set to have latest opening date on record

Weather turning colder, but has been too mild this year to build safe ice

People skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway on Saturday, March 5, 2022. Canada’s largest skating rink has officially broken it’s record for the latest opening date - but it hasn’t opened yet. The National Capital Commission announced on social media today that the last time the canal opened this late was Feb. 2, 2002, but as the years have progressed the seasons have gotten shorter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson participates in a fireside discussion in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Wilkinson says legislation to lay out the government’s plan to protect jobs during the clean-energy transition is still months away. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Feds to lay out ‘sustainable jobs’ plan for energy transition ahead of legislation

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson promised to outline plans by early spring

Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson participates in a fireside discussion in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Wilkinson says legislation to lay out the government’s plan to protect jobs during the clean-energy transition is still months away. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Water flows down a wash into Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev. More than 10% of the water carried by the Colorado River evaporates, leaks or spills as the 1,450-mile powerhouse river of the West flows through the region’s dams, reservoirs and open-air canals. (AP Photo/John Locher)

In the American West, pressure mounts to count water lost to evaporation

As jurisdictions battle for their share, 10% loss on the Colorado can no longer be ignored

Water flows down a wash into Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev. More than 10% of the water carried by the Colorado River evaporates, leaks or spills as the 1,450-mile powerhouse river of the West flows through the region’s dams, reservoirs and open-air canals. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Jars of fermenting fruits and vegetables, left, sit on top of a retired gas stove replaced by an electric cooker, right, in Josh Spodek's Greenwich Village apartment kitchen, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2023, in New York. Spodek's efforts to go packaging-free changed his mindset and led him to experiment with living grid-free (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging

Fridge-free for a year, man wants to set an example for millions to see what is possible

Jars of fermenting fruits and vegetables, left, sit on top of a retired gas stove replaced by an electric cooker, right, in Josh Spodek's Greenwich Village apartment kitchen, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2023, in New York. Spodek's efforts to go packaging-free changed his mindset and led him to experiment with living grid-free (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Tourists take pictures with a stuffed polar bear upon arriving to Longyearbyen airport, Norway, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Church helps Norwegian mining community evolve in dark, warming Arctic

Northern community navigating a drastic change in its identity

Tourists take pictures with a stuffed polar bear upon arriving to Longyearbyen airport, Norway, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
FILE - Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stands next to Indigenous leader Cacique Raoni at the Planalto Palace after he was sworn in as new president in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. Environmentalists, Indigenous people and voters sympathetic to their causes were important to Luiz Inácio da Silva’s election to a third term as Brazil’s president.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, file)

Brazil’s new president works to reverse Amazon deforestation

President Lula is appointing well-known environmentalists and Indigenous people to key positions

FILE - Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stands next to Indigenous leader Cacique Raoni at the Planalto Palace after he was sworn in as new president in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. Environmentalists, Indigenous people and voters sympathetic to their causes were important to Luiz Inácio da Silva’s election to a third term as Brazil’s president.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, file)
Following two years of extensive flooding in 2017 and 2018, a trail in Summerland was closed. The municipality of Summerland is now seeking funding for the completion of climate hazard, risk and vulnerability assessments. (Summerland Review file photo)

Summerland seeks funds for completion of hazard risk assessment

Present plan was created in 2006

Following two years of extensive flooding in 2017 and 2018, a trail in Summerland was closed. The municipality of Summerland is now seeking funding for the completion of climate hazard, risk and vulnerability assessments. (Summerland Review file photo)
FILE - A boat navigates at night next to large icebergs near the town of Kulusuk, in eastern Greenland on Aug. 15, 2019. A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

New ice core analysis shows sharp Greenland warming spike

Warming spike mirrors a sudden rise in the amount of water running off Greenland ice

FILE - A boat navigates at night next to large icebergs near the town of Kulusuk, in eastern Greenland on Aug. 15, 2019. A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
Netting made from mettle cables is visible above a creek in Montecito, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. With climate change predicted to produce more severe weather, officials are scrambling to put in basins, nets and improve predictions of where landslides might occur to keep homes and people safe. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neil)

Tackling the threat of mudslides in soaked California

What are the most vulnerable areas and what can be done to protect them?

Netting made from mettle cables is visible above a creek in Montecito, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. With climate change predicted to produce more severe weather, officials are scrambling to put in basins, nets and improve predictions of where landslides might occur to keep homes and people safe. (AP Photo/Ty O’Neil)
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)