Environment

The Suncor oil sands facility seen from a helicopter near Fort McMurray, Alta. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Penticton plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions following 22% increase since 2011

Motor vehicles accounted for up to 55 per cent of emissions in Penticton

 

This Sept. 4, 2021, satellite image provided by Maxar shows a view of oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico at East Timbalier Island National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. (Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Hurricane Larry’s track shifts west, residents of Newfoundland warned to prepare

Hurricane is not expected to have much of an impact on the rest of Atlantic Canada

 

The RCMP use an excavator to extract an old-growth logging protester from a tripod in the Fairy Creek area on Vancouver Island. (Submitted)

RCMP watchdog gets more than 70 enforcement complaints from Fairy Creek blockades

Protesters’ lawyer says 17 complaints fall under the agency’s mandate and will be investigated

 

A sunflower star on the Olympic Coast of Washington is shown in this undated handout photo. Sea stars in the waters off British Columbia that died off in the billions about a decade ago are not recovering as expected, an expert says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Janna Nichols

‘Very disturbing’: Expert says sea stars melting away because of wasting disease

Scientist: unclear if populations of sea stars in B.C. waters will survive

A sunflower star on the Olympic Coast of Washington is shown in this undated handout photo. Sea stars in the waters off British Columbia that died off in the billions about a decade ago are not recovering as expected, an expert says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Janna Nichols
Trail and restoration upgrades were completed on Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland in 2020. (Contributed)

Grasslands and weed walk planned in Summerland

Importance of environmental area will be discussed on morning of Aug. 25

Trail and restoration upgrades were completed on Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland in 2020. (Contributed)
People find comfort in sea breeze at the Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks), a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, southern Sicily, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. The ongoing heatwave will last up until the weekend with temperatures expected to reach well over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Days of hot weather grip Southern Europe, North Africa

Scientists say there’s little doubt climate change from fossil fuels is driving extreme events

People find comfort in sea breeze at the Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks), a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, southern Sicily, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. The ongoing heatwave will last up until the weekend with temperatures expected to reach well over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Booming grasshopper populations plague Prairie farmers

Higher than usual number of grasshoppers inhabiting grassy areas and feasting on crops

A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, a man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece. A new massive United Nations science report is scheduled for release Monday Aug. 9, 2021, reporting on the impact of global warming due to humans. (AP Photo/Thodoris Nikolaou)

‘Nowhere to run’: UN report says global warming nears limits

Report: far worse heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours without deep emissions cuts

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, a man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece. A new massive United Nations science report is scheduled for release Monday Aug. 9, 2021, reporting on the impact of global warming due to humans. (AP Photo/Thodoris Nikolaou)
UBCO researchers have worked to Indigenize a set of wildlife conservation principles and policies that have guided wildlife management decisions in Canada and the United States for decades. (Contributed/UBCO)

UBCO researchers help weave Indigenous-led policy into wildlife conservation model

New approach takes traditional knowledge and applies it to a modern setting

UBCO researchers have worked to Indigenize a set of wildlife conservation principles and policies that have guided wildlife management decisions in Canada and the United States for decades. (Contributed/UBCO)
A climber is dwarfed by the massive rock face of the Chief in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park in Squamish, B.C., on August 16, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Many Stawamus Chief climbing routes closed after tons of rock tumbles in Squamish

Hot weather suspected cause of collapse at popular B.C. rock-climbing destination

A climber is dwarfed by the massive rock face of the Chief in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park in Squamish, B.C., on August 16, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Lori Goldman, right, cheers as MP Richard Cannings signs a pledge for climate action as part of the climate change rally in Penticton on July 29. (Brennan Phillips - Penticton Western)

MP Cannings signs pledge to for green action at Penticton climate change rally

Dozens gathered to rally against the worsening climate

Lori Goldman, right, cheers as MP Richard Cannings signs a pledge for climate action as part of the climate change rally in Penticton on July 29. (Brennan Phillips - Penticton Western)
Cherries at Pravin Dhaliwal’s family farm in Oliver, B.C., are seen cooked on their trees, when the temperature hit a record 41.5 C in a June 2021 handout photo. Dhaliwal is trying to maintain his passion as a third-generation farmer while dealing with the reality of climate change and says farmers need more support from provincial and federal governments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Pravin Dhaliwal

Farmers say heat wave, drought show vulnerable agricultural sector needs support

Farmers across Canada look to provincial and the federal governments for help

Cherries at Pravin Dhaliwal’s family farm in Oliver, B.C., are seen cooked on their trees, when the temperature hit a record 41.5 C in a June 2021 handout photo. Dhaliwal is trying to maintain his passion as a third-generation farmer while dealing with the reality of climate change and says farmers need more support from provincial and federal governments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Pravin Dhaliwal
Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Salmon getting through Fraser River slide zone as officials ponder permanent fix

Protected fishway at the slide site is allowing salmon to make it upstream

Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

VIDEO: B.C. man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Tonnes of oil, diesel pumped from leaking B.C. shipwreck 53 years after sinking

The 147-metre cargo ship went down in Nootka Sound in 1968

The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.

Death of young humpback shows tragic impact of ship collisions, 2 experts say

Two-year-old ‘Halfpipe’ found dead July 8

Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.
Recent logging activities in Bigmouth Creek, north of Revelstoke. (Contributed)

Splatsin opposes old-growth logging north of Revelstoke

Splatsin Kukpi7 (Chief) Wayne Christian will be attending a blockade on July 11

Recent logging activities in Bigmouth Creek, north of Revelstoke. (Contributed)
A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Injection of public funds didn’t increase Alberta oil well cleanups, study suggests

Parkland Institute: Province may have simply replaced money energy companies would have spent anyway

A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Wildflowers, rare grasslands and at risk species are part of the rich landscape of the Park Rill Floodplain which is now part of the Nature Trust of B.C. in the South Okanagan. (Graham Osborne photo)

151 acres of biodiverse South Okanagan land donated to Nature Trust of B.C.

The land near Willowbrook is home to rare grasslands and at-risk animals

Wildflowers, rare grasslands and at risk species are part of the rich landscape of the Park Rill Floodplain which is now part of the Nature Trust of B.C. in the South Okanagan. (Graham Osborne photo)
A water advisory has been posted for Okanagan Beach between the SS Sicamous and the Peach following a test conducted on June 29, 2021 that identified higher than normal levels of bacteria. (Jesse Day - Western News)

Excessive levels of E. coli at Penticton’s Okanagan Beach prompts warning

Five times the acceptable amount of E. coli was found in the water at Okanagan Beach

A water advisory has been posted for Okanagan Beach between the SS Sicamous and the Peach following a test conducted on June 29, 2021 that identified higher than normal levels of bacteria. (Jesse Day - Western News)