One of the world’s best-known climate scientists is discouraged that almost 40 years of study and warnings haven’t convinced humanity to adequately address the climate crisis. But James Hansen understands why we’ve stalled.
One of the world’s best-known climate scientists is discouraged that almost 40 years of study…
Canada has taken a major step in cleaning up its oil and gas sector. We’re…
Our health, well-being, food security, energy and economic progress depend on healthy, diverse nature. Clean…
Contrary to a common perception, ignoring climate change won’t make it disappear. Global research going back to 1824 in fields ranging through physics, oceanography, biology and geology have confirmed human activity — mainly burning fossil fuels, raising livestock and destroying carbon sinks like forests and wetlands — is increasing greenhouse gas emissions and causing global temperatures to rise rapidly, putting humanity at risk. Every legitimate scientific academy and institution and every government, except the current U.S. administration, agrees.
Contrary to a common perception, ignoring climate change won’t make it disappear. Global research going…
Canada is losing a lot of its wildlife. The World Wildlife Fund’s 2017 Living Planet Report Canada found half the monitored mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish species declined from 1970 to 2014. Threatened and endangered species continue to disappear despite federal legislation designed to protect them and help their populations recover. What’s going wrong?
Canada is losing a lot of its wildlife. The World Wildlife Fund’s 2017 Living Planet Report…
Angel Gurria sounds like the leader of an environmental or social justice group. In a…
For close to a decade, the Ecojustice team has worked with Aamjiwnaang community members to convince the Ontario government to introduce a cumulative effects policy to address the air pollution crisis in Chemical Valley. After countless meetings, dozens of letters, and two lawsuits, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change finally released a draft policy in November 2017.
For close to a decade, the Ecojustice team has worked with Aamjiwnaang community members to…
Brazil has flooded large swaths of the Amazon for hydro dams, despite opposition from Indigenous Peoples, environmentalists and others. The country gets 70 per cent of its electricity from hydropower. Brazil’s government had plans to expand development, opening half the Amazon basin to hydro. But a surprising announcement could halt that.
Brazil has flooded large swaths of the Amazon for hydro dams, despite opposition from Indigenous…
A year ago, we revisited the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” Signed by a majority of Nobel laureates in sciences at the time and more than 1,700 leading scientists worldwide, the document warned, “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.”
A year ago, we revisited the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” Signed by a…
Traditionally, we’ve labelled events over which we have no influence or control “acts of God” or “natural disasters.” But what’s “natural” about climate-induced disasters today? Scientists call the interval since the Industrial Revolution the “Anthropocene,” a period when our species hasbecome the major factor altering the biological, physical and chemical properties of the planet on a geological scale. Empowered by fossil fuel–driven technologies, a rapidly growing human population and an insatiable demand for constant growth in consumption and the global economy, our species is responsible for the calamitous consequences.
Traditionally, we’ve labelled events over which we have no influence or control “acts of God”…
In 1952, my Grade 10 civics teacher asked us what we hoped to become as…
It seems odd that a major U.S. government climate report released November 3 didn’t receive more media attention. But then, the main thing newsworthy about the Climate Science Special Report is that it was released at all, apparently without political interference.
It seems odd that a major U.S. government climate report released November 3 didn’t receive…
What does climate change have to do with economic growth? Canada’s prime minister and premiers signed a deal in December to “grow our economy, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and build resilience to the impacts of a changing climate.” The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change outlines plans for carbon pricing, energy-efficient building codes, electric vehicle charging stations, methane emission regulations and more.
What does climate change have to do with economic growth? Canada’s prime minister and premiers…
The environment has been a hot topic during the 2017 election campaign but one of the biggest issues, climate change, has received relatively little air time to date. That’s why WWF-New Zealand is hosting a Climate Debate on 19 September 2017 in Auckland, in partnership with Oxfam New Zealand and Fossil Free University of Auckland.
The environment has been a hot topic during the 2017 election campaign but one of…
When the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlán in 1325, they built it on a large island on Lake Texcoco. Its eventual 200,000-plus inhabitants relied on canals, levees, dikes, floating gardens, aqueducts and bridges for defence, transportation, flood control, drinking water and food. After the Spaniards conquered the city in 1521, they drained the lake and built Mexico City over it.
When the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlán in 1325, they built it on a large island on…
August 2 was Earth Overshoot Day. Unlike Earth Day or Canada Day, it’s not a time to celebrate. As the Earth Overshoot Day website explains, it marks the time when “we will have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the whole year.” That is the definition of unsustainable and means we’re using up the biological capital that should be our children’s legacy. We would require 1.7 Earths to meet our current annual demands sustainably.
August 2 was Earth Overshoot Day. Unlike Earth Day or Canada Day, it’s not a…
New research aims to better understand how much methane – a potent greenhouse gas – is burbling to the surface of the Mackenzie Valley in Canada’s Northwest Territories as the permafrost thaws.
New research aims to better understand how much methane – a potent greenhouse gas –…
Pollinator pathway. Bumblebee highway. River of Flowers. Bee Line. These have all described habitat corridors created to help pollinators like bees and butterflies. We can add Butterflyways to the list.
Pollinator pathway. Bumblebee highway. River of Flowers. Bee Line. These have all described habitat corridors…
Spring flooding in Canada this year upended lives, inundated city streets and swamped houses, prompting calls for sandbags, seawalls and dikes to save communities. Ontario and Quebec’s April rainfall was double the 30-year average
Spring flooding in Canada this year upended lives, inundated city streets and swamped houses, prompting…
In withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated monumental ignorance about climate change and the agreement itself. As Vox energy and climate writer David Roberts noted about Trump’s announcement, “It is a remarkable address, in its own way, in that virtually every passage contains something false or misleading.”
In withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated monumental ignorance about climate…
United States President Donald Trump has announced his intent to withdraw the US from the historic Paris Agreement, the world’s first global plan to address climate change. This announcement is a call to action to national and local governments, businesses and people worldwide to step up their commitments to address climate change.
United States President Donald Trump has announced his intent to withdraw the US from the historic…
People who deny that humans are wreaking havoc on the planet’s life-support systems astound me. When confronted with the obvious damage we’re doing to the biosphere — from climate change to water and air pollution to swirling plastic patches in the oceans — some dismiss the reality or employ logical fallacies to discredit the messengers.
People who deny that humans are wreaking havoc on the planet’s life-support systems astound me.…
Most people understand that human-caused climate change is a real and serious threat. True, some still reject the mountains of evidence amassed by scientists from around the world over many decades, and accepted by every legitimate scientific academy and institution. But as the physical evidence builds daily — from increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events like droughts and floods to disappearing polar ice to rising sea levels — it takes an incredible amount of denial to claim we have no reason to worry.
Most people understand that human-caused climate change is a real and serious threat. True, some…
In 1926, U.S. automaker Henry Ford reduced his employees’ workweek from six eight-hour days to…
Now that the weather has stabilised, we are enjoying wonderful dives again at Sail Rock, Anghton Marine Park and Koh Tao, yet I remember the unusual weather we had last January, which let many tourists down. Their frustration was understandable. They came to Thailand expecting sunshine, without considering an unwanted consequence of their own lifestyle: climate change.
WWF-New Zealand has written to the Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett and senior officials in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Ministry for the Environment, urging them to use diplomacy to encourage the United States of America to remain in the Paris Agreement, the global treaty on climate change.