Environment

An attendee walks past hydraulic fracking equipment at the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Homes near fracking sites in B.C. have higher levels of some pollutants, says study

Researchers found higher levels of chemicals used in fracking in selected Peace River residences

 

A heavy hauler truck transports material from Suncor’s North Steepbank in the oil sands in Fort McMurray, Alta., Monday, June 13, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Environment groups say all parties now firmly behind strong action on climate change

Only the People’s Party of Canada had no climate action plan

 

This Sept. 4, 2021, satellite image provided by Maxar shows a view of oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico at East Timbalier Island National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. (Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Hurricane Larry’s track shifts west, residents of Newfoundland warned to prepare

Hurricane is not expected to have much of an impact on the rest of Atlantic Canada

 

The RCMP use an excavator to extract an old-growth logging protester from a tripod in the Fairy Creek area on Vancouver Island. (Submitted)

RCMP watchdog gets more than 70 enforcement complaints from Fairy Creek blockades

Protesters’ lawyer says 17 complaints fall under the agency’s mandate and will be investigated

The RCMP use an excavator to extract an old-growth logging protester from a tripod in the Fairy Creek area on Vancouver Island. (Submitted)
A sunflower star on the Olympic Coast of Washington is shown in this undated handout photo. Sea stars in the waters off British Columbia that died off in the billions about a decade ago are not recovering as expected, an expert says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Janna Nichols

‘Very disturbing’: Expert says sea stars melting away because of wasting disease

Scientist: unclear if populations of sea stars in B.C. waters will survive

A sunflower star on the Olympic Coast of Washington is shown in this undated handout photo. Sea stars in the waters off British Columbia that died off in the billions about a decade ago are not recovering as expected, an expert says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Janna Nichols
People find comfort in sea breeze at the Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks), a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, southern Sicily, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. The ongoing heatwave will last up until the weekend with temperatures expected to reach well over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Days of hot weather grip Southern Europe, North Africa

Scientists say there’s little doubt climate change from fossil fuels is driving extreme events

People find comfort in sea breeze at the Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks), a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, southern Sicily, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. The ongoing heatwave will last up until the weekend with temperatures expected to reach well over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Booming grasshopper populations plague Prairie farmers

Higher than usual number of grasshoppers inhabiting grassy areas and feasting on crops

A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, a man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece. A new massive United Nations science report is scheduled for release Monday Aug. 9, 2021, reporting on the impact of global warming due to humans. (AP Photo/Thodoris Nikolaou)

‘Nowhere to run’: UN report says global warming nears limits

Report: far worse heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours without deep emissions cuts

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, a man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece. A new massive United Nations science report is scheduled for release Monday Aug. 9, 2021, reporting on the impact of global warming due to humans. (AP Photo/Thodoris Nikolaou)
A climber is dwarfed by the massive rock face of the Chief in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park in Squamish, B.C., on August 16, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Many Stawamus Chief climbing routes closed after tons of rock tumbles in Squamish

Hot weather suspected cause of collapse at popular B.C. rock-climbing destination

A climber is dwarfed by the massive rock face of the Chief in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park in Squamish, B.C., on August 16, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Tesla Owners Club of B.C. converged in Hope on July 24, 2021 to celebrate the opening of 12 new Superchargers, which can give a Tesla a full charge in the fraction of the time that others can. (Rich Teer photo)

Hope becomes a bigger draw for Tesla drivers with 12 new stations

Small Fraser Valley town home to more than 30 public electric vehicle outlets

Tesla Owners Club of B.C. converged in Hope on July 24, 2021 to celebrate the opening of 12 new Superchargers, which can give a Tesla a full charge in the fraction of the time that others can. (Rich Teer photo)
Cherries at Pravin Dhaliwal’s family farm in Oliver, B.C., are seen cooked on their trees, when the temperature hit a record 41.5 C in a June 2021 handout photo. Dhaliwal is trying to maintain his passion as a third-generation farmer while dealing with the reality of climate change and says farmers need more support from provincial and federal governments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Pravin Dhaliwal

Farmers say heat wave, drought show vulnerable agricultural sector needs support

Farmers across Canada look to provincial and the federal governments for help

Cherries at Pravin Dhaliwal’s family farm in Oliver, B.C., are seen cooked on their trees, when the temperature hit a record 41.5 C in a June 2021 handout photo. Dhaliwal is trying to maintain his passion as a third-generation farmer while dealing with the reality of climate change and says farmers need more support from provincial and federal governments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Pravin Dhaliwal
Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Salmon getting through Fraser River slide zone as officials ponder permanent fix

Protected fishway at the slide site is allowing salmon to make it upstream

Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

VIDEO: B.C. man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Tonnes of oil, diesel pumped from leaking B.C. shipwreck 53 years after sinking

The 147-metre cargo ship went down in Nootka Sound in 1968

The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.

Death of young humpback shows tragic impact of ship collisions, 2 experts say

Two-year-old ‘Halfpipe’ found dead July 8

Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.
A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Injection of public funds didn’t increase Alberta oil well cleanups, study suggests

Parkland Institute: Province may have simply replaced money energy companies would have spent anyway

A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Gates Creek, 274-acres of land now in trust with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Nature Conservancy)

New conservancy will protect 274-acre corridor B.C. grizzly bears use to meet, mingle

Maintaining connectivity between Stein-Nahatlatch and South Chilcotin grizzly populations essential for species’ survival

Gates Creek, 274-acres of land now in trust with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Nature Conservancy)
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks while Ottawa South MP David McGuinty looks on during a press conference at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Liberal government is speeding up its goal for when it wants to see all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be electric.THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai

Liberals say by 2035 all new cars, light-duty trucks sold in Canada will be electric

The government had set 2040 target for when it wants to see all passenger vehicles sold be electric

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks while Ottawa South MP David McGuinty looks on during a press conference at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Liberal government is speeding up its goal for when it wants to see all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be electric.THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai
Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)

Coastal Cleanup stages sequel of bid to rid B.C. coast of garbage

West Coast cleanup nets over 200 tonnes of marine debris

Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)
Two peregrine falcon chicks have now hatched at a quarry in Abbotsford. Operators of the quarry have had their wildlife permit suspended for the second time in a month. (Submitted photo)

Wildlife permit suspended 2nd time for Abbotsford quarry with peregrine falcons

Operator has failed to follow 50-metre protective buffer zone, says province

Two peregrine falcon chicks have now hatched at a quarry in Abbotsford. Operators of the quarry have had their wildlife permit suspended for the second time in a month. (Submitted photo)