Tag Archives: BC Drought

Cost of Climate Change

The launch of Cortes CPR (Climate Plan for Resilience)

The official launch of Cortes CPR (Climate Plan for Resilience) took place just days ago.  (They were talking about it last January.)

“We’ve put out our new Facebook page and an introductory letter to the community in the Tideline. We’re really trying to get the ball going because we’ve done a lot of preliminary research and organizing behind the scenes,  but now we want to get it out that we are working on this plan,” said spokesperson Ashley Zarbatany.

“We’re looking to partner with different organizations. We’re going to be reaching out to stakeholders and rights holders and we are also looking for volunteers for our data collections team.”

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Water

Drought conditions put fish habitat at risk

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Drought conditions are continuing to put salmon and fish habitat at risk in streams and rivers on Vancouver Island.

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Communications

Becoming Nature Boy

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George Sirk’s radio program comes from a lifelong passion. He became a specialist in “tropical ecology, in places such as Australia, Papua New Guinea and tropical America,”  and later an expedition leader in the Canadian Arctic. He first brought this to the airwaves for CFUV in Victoria. George also produced seven minute clips on the Arctic for CBC’s Morning Show, before Prime Minister Harper cut back on funding. He returned to Cortes Island in 2016 and on February 1 became CKTZ’s newest talk show host. In this morning’s interview, I ask George Sirk about becoming Nature Boy.

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Food, Food Security

Site C Will Submerge Needed Agricultural Lands

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British Columbia grows less than half of the fresh produce it needs. Much of what we consume comes from California. The ongoing drought conditions, and a weak loony, have sent vegetable prices spiralling 11.7% this year.  Fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables are becoming an occasional luxury for some middle-low income B.C. families. Though this will only worsen worse as global temperatures continue to rise, the government of BC is far more preoccupied with the get-rich promise of mega-energy projects. Once it is completed, Site C will submerge prime agricultural lands.

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Cost of Climate Change, Water

Mega-Sized Drought Coming To BC

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By Roy L Hales

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Though British Columbia’s hydrologists have fifty years of stream flow data to formulate its’ responses to climate change, a recent study from the University of Victoria shows this is not enough. Tree ring data shows that, since 1658 AD, there have been 16 droughts exceeding anything evidenced in the instrumental record. The most recent and severest of  these events took place in 1958. According to one of the study co-authors, Bethany Coulthard, “It was a cool time and yet we still saw these extreme natural droughts.” Add problems like urbanization, deforestation and rising Global temperatures into the equation and we can expect a mega-sized drought coming to BC.

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