Tag Archives: floods

Disaster

SRD Concerns About BC’s New Emergency And Disaster Management Act

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) has some serious concerns about BC’s new Emergency and Disaster Management Act, which came into effect on November 8.  

According to a provincial government video, “We know people are worried about the climate driven challenges across British Columbia that are significantly affecting our families, communities, economy, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Modern realities like frequent floods, wildfires, drought, and extreme heat, as well as the COVID 19 pandemic have a lasting impact on people and communIties. A significant step in our response to these challenges involves modernizing BC’s emergency management legislation to include the requirement that the emergency management plans of provincial ministries, local authorities, and critical infrastructure operators are informed by risk assessments.”

 At their Wednesday Dec 13 meeting. Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman told the SRD Board his concerns with the way the government was implementing these ideas:

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Cost of Climate Change

The Quadra Project: Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis is a new word for our vocabulary. It has been used before to describe a health condition created by an imbalance in the gut bacteria, which causes a wide range of gastrointestinal problems. Now dysbiosis is being used to describe a variety of our environmental problems.

It’s a timely word formed from two Greek roots. The prefix “dys” denotes difficulties, abnormalities, or anything that is uneasy, unfavourable or unfortunate. The suffix, “biosis”, denotes a state of living or a mode of life. Put the two together and we have a word that describes the malfunctioning of a biological system caused by some profound imbalance.

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Uncategorized

The Quadra Project: Climate Karma

Karma, from the Sanskrit word “karman” is an amalgamation of “action, effect, and fate”. In the popular sense of the word, it has come to mean that actions have consequences, and that our individual human behaviour exists in a cause-effect relationship with a vague sense of a moral cosmos. Often described as the Principle of Karma, it means that personal acts motivated by “good” intentions are eventually rewarded in kind, and that “bad” acts are also rewarded in kind.

Although karma usually applies to the cause-effect relationship of our individual actions, it might also apply to our collective actions, a more expansive understanding that is worth considering, given the consequence of the unfolding havoc we are causing on our planet.

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Cost of Climate Change

Canadian Labour Congress wants more ambitious climate goals from Ottawa

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada’s largest labour organization passed two resolutions Monday vowing to address climate change, a just transition to clean energy and green industrial policy in a way that’s fair for workers.

Both resolutions appeared on the affordability agenda at the Canadian Labour Congress’ 2023 constitutional convention in Montreal. The first pledges to tackle the climate crisis while ensuring workers aren’t left behind in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The second deals with industrial policy, including expanding clean energy and creating good union jobs in the process.

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Rivers & Oceans, Water

Reflections on the extraordinary power of slow water

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The advance of the climate crisis, marked by its extremes — droughts or deluges, fires or floods — makes abundantly clear the human habit of trying to contain and control water isn’t working. 

For her new book, Water Always Wins, National Geographic Explorer Erica Gies criss-crossed the globe, witnessing some of the unanticipated results of modern society’s preference for engineered solutions. 

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