Tag Archives: Arctic Climate Change

Cost of Climate Change

Fisheries and Oceans Canada expects to flounder under mounting climate costs

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hurricane Fiona left a trail of destruction across the Atlantic Coast in September 2022 wreaking havoc on wharves, fisheries, vessels, and gear and the federal government’s pocketbook.

In response to the climate disaster, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has had to earmark more than $563 million to deal with Fiona’s aftermath, including damage to 142 out of 184 small craft harbours on the Atlantic coast.

However, internal communications obtained by Canada’s National Observer suggest that Hurricane Fiona was just a harbinger of escalating climate-related costs and operational threats DFO expects to face in the coming years. With a shrinking budget, the department is bracing for more severe financial and logistical challenges as the climate crisis intensifies.

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Arts

Coming July 5: Iris Steigemann, Adrift Above The Arctic Circle

Iris Steigemann was an artist before she came to Cortes island in 1980, but for the last five or six years her work has taken on a new focus. 

“I’ve been painting icebergs. What fascinates me is the underneath of the iceberg. You usually see  a quarter to a third of an iceberg above the water.  Under the water, it’s kind of a dream landscape.  I  like to play around with that,” she explained.

“There is also the environmental aspect of it. The ice cap there is  melting way faster than  what was expected.  The thickest part of the ice cap in Greenland is about three kilometers deep. They’re doing ice cores of this and they can actually see what kind of weather there was, what was happening on earth at those times. Now  this is all melting.  They break off and a lot of them from Ilulissat Icefjord actually float around to the Canadian side.  They drift down the east coast and then they melt.” 

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Cost of Climate Change, Environment

Unchecked climate change puts Canada’s West Coast in hot water

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last year was the hottest on record for the ocean, an upward trend only expected to continue as it wreaks havoc on coastal communities and spurs irreversible losses to marine ecosystems. 

Ocean warming has cascading effects, melting polar ice and causing sea-level rise, marine heat waves and ocean acidification, the United Nations’ panel of climate experts made clear on Monday.

Sea-level rise has doubled in the last three decades, reaching a record high in 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported. Rising seas, coupled with more extreme weather, are setting the stage for a perfect storm of flooding for coastal communities. 

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Environment

Canada can still achieve net zero emissions by 2050, Commissioner says

It has been more than a month since the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, presented a series of devastating reports about Canada’s inept performance in addressing the climate crisis to the House of Commons. 

“There is a need for the federal government to achieve real outcomes on environmental protection and sustainable development—not just words on paper or unfulfilled promises. All too often, Canada’s environmental commitments are not met with the actions needed to protect air, land, water and wildlife, now and for future generations. And that is a trend we urgently need to reverse,” said Jerry DeMarco. “We’ve had nine plans over the last 31 years,  from 1990 to now, and none of them have achieved their objectives.” 

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Cost of Climate Change

COP 26 is a waste of time, says Weyler

Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler advises environmentalists to stay home, international conferences like COP 26 are a waste of time. 

“These climate conferences are not addressing the real root problem, which is overshoot of the human species on earth, and they are not doing anything about the one symptom they are addressing, which is climate change,” he said.

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