Tag Archives: Canadian Space Agency

Feds release flimsy first report on climate risk managment

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government expects the cost of disaster relief funding to balloon to a billion dollars or more each year as the climate crisis advances, according to a new risk-management report. 

The document, examining steps by the federal public service to manage the financial risks and possible rewards tied to climate change, was released by Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc on Monday. 

Over the past decade, the federal government spent an average $793 million annually to help provinces and farms, businesses, industries and communities overcome natural disasters, according to the inaugural Federal Climate-Related Risk Management report. 

However, as extreme weather and catastrophes aggravated by climate change — like the 2021 flooding in B.C. or Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada the following year — occur more frequently, funding transfers to provinces through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement (DFAA) are expected to spike, the report noted. 

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The race is on to spy on Canada’s whales from space

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Scientists on Canada’s coasts are exploring the use of satellites to surveil whales and other ocean “megafauna” to better monitor and protect at-risk ocean species. 

The rapid advance of very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and dropping costs are providing conservationists with opportunities to locate, count and monitor wildlife and their critical habitat from the cosmos. The technique is especially helpful in remote areas or expanses of ocean that are difficult for scientists to access. 

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Barry & Amanda Glickman

By Roy L Hales

While many Cortes Islanders associate them with emergency communications, there is a great deal more to Barry & Amanda Glickman’s story.

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