Climate change

Under current CO2 budget scenarios, Canada would have to reach net-zero emissions by 2024 or 2026 if it wants to limit the future rise in temperature to 1.8 C. It has no way of reaching the 1.5 C goal. (showyourbudgets.org chart)

Canada has blown through its carbon budget to reach 1.5 C climate goal, according to tracker

US blew its carbon budget in 2021 while other G7 countries have only years left to reach goals

Under current CO2 budget scenarios, Canada would have to reach net-zero emissions by 2024 or 2026 if it wants to limit the future rise in temperature to 1.8 C. It has no way of reaching the 1.5 C goal. (showyourbudgets.org chart)
Gabriela Hirt, a local artist and member of Gage Gallery, checks out several submissions to their new exhibit of postcards offering personal solutions to the climate crisis. (Photos courtesy of Gabriela Hirt)

Victoria gallery exhibit offers over 300 solutions to the climate crisis

Personally created art postcards to be suspended from Gage Gallery ceiling until spring

Gabriela Hirt, a local artist and member of Gage Gallery, checks out several submissions to their new exhibit of postcards offering personal solutions to the climate crisis. (Photos courtesy of Gabriela Hirt)
Many cities across B.C. recorded the hottest days of their histories during the ‘heat dome’ heatwave that blanketed much of the Pacific Northwest at the end June, 2021. (File photo)

Study finds B.C. heat dome caused an uptick in climate anxiety

Over half of respondents said they were more worried about climate change after the heat dome

Many cities across B.C. recorded the hottest days of their histories during the ‘heat dome’ heatwave that blanketed much of the Pacific Northwest at the end June, 2021. (File photo)
FILE – This 2020 photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey shows the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. Starting Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021, a team of scientists are sailing to the massive but melting Thwaites glacier, the place in the world that’s the hardest to get to, so they can better figure out how much and how fast seas will rise because of global warming eating away at Antarctica’s ice. (David Vaughan/British Antarctic Survey via AP)

Canadian scientist examines melting Antarctic glacier, potential sea level rise

Team will measure temperatures, salinity and turbulence of waters that have crept underneath the glacier

FILE – This 2020 photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey shows the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. Starting Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021, a team of scientists are sailing to the massive but melting Thwaites glacier, the place in the world that’s the hardest to get to, so they can better figure out how much and how fast seas will rise because of global warming eating away at Antarctica’s ice. (David Vaughan/British Antarctic Survey via AP)
Photo courtesy of J Summers.

B.C. disasters, extreme weather underscore need for climate-resilient agriculture

“We should be building the infrastructure for the next 30 years, starting yesterday.”

Photo courtesy of J Summers.
Solar panels can be seen on the school grounds on Lasqueti Island, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

$134 million in new funding announced for B.C. clean energy projects

The funding is available through the CleanBC Communities Fund starting Jan. 26

Solar panels can be seen on the school grounds on Lasqueti Island, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
The Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. A new report from the Bank of Canada on climate transition risks show Canada’s financial institutions are potentially exposed to significant economic shocks from high-emitting sectors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

BoC scenarios show financial sector exposed to potential climate transition shocks

The pilot study isn’t meant as a forecast but considers several climate policy scenarios

The Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. A new report from the Bank of Canada on climate transition risks show Canada’s financial institutions are potentially exposed to significant economic shocks from high-emitting sectors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Artist Claire Gaulin-Brown holds up one of the pieces in her solo exhibit Hollow Ground, on display at the Esquimalt Community Arts Hub until Jan. 28. (Courtesy of Esquimalt Community Arts Hub)

Esquimalt art exhibit highlights complexity of climate crisis

Paintings explore the fragility of existence, artist Claire Gaulin-Brown says

Artist Claire Gaulin-Brown holds up one of the pieces in her solo exhibit Hollow Ground, on display at the Esquimalt Community Arts Hub until Jan. 28. (Courtesy of Esquimalt Community Arts Hub)
The District of Saanich is offering online climate action workshops to help residents reduce climate impact in and around their communities, such as in shared green spaces like Elk-Beaver Lake Park. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)

Six-week workshop to help Saanich residents tailor climate action efforts

Sustainable transportation options, living minimally among topics to be discussed by experts

The District of Saanich is offering online climate action workshops to help residents reduce climate impact in and around their communities, such as in shared green spaces like Elk-Beaver Lake Park. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)
The remains of the Element by Westin hotel is seen, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021 in Superior, Colo. Hundreds of homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in wildfires outside Denver. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)

Climate change, new construction mean more ruinous fires

Tens of thousands of people were told to flee Colorado grassfires

The remains of the Element by Westin hotel is seen, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021 in Superior, Colo. Hundreds of homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in wildfires outside Denver. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)
Young cancer survivor Dez Young went up to 16 days without food this past spring while in care at Victoria General Hospital, due to lack of availability of a doctor to replace his feeding tube. (Courtesy of Arabella Young)

Looking back at the top Victoria stories of 2021

Human suffering, climate and environment and household sustainability were key themes

Young cancer survivor Dez Young went up to 16 days without food this past spring while in care at Victoria General Hospital, due to lack of availability of a doctor to replace his feeding tube. (Courtesy of Arabella Young)
Greenpeace activists stage a demonstration outside a bank in Toronto, as they protest major Canadian bank’s investment in fossil fuels, on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Banks offer big climate commitments in 2021, but key details are yet to come

Pressure is mounting as Canadians live through the very real effects of climate change

Greenpeace activists stage a demonstration outside a bank in Toronto, as they protest major Canadian bank’s investment in fossil fuels, on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A fire truck leads a bus down Main Street past damaged structures during a media tour in Lytton, B.C., on Friday, July 9, 2021, after a wildfire destroyed most of the village on June 30. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A fire truck leads a bus down Main Street past damaged structures during a media tour in Lytton, B.C., on Friday, July 9, 2021, after a wildfire destroyed most of the village on June 30. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

‘Trying to tell us something’: Climatologist says 2021 a weather year like no other

About 1,000 new daily temperature marks were set between June 24 to July 4

A fire truck leads a bus down Main Street past damaged structures during a media tour in Lytton, B.C., on Friday, July 9, 2021, after a wildfire destroyed most of the village on June 30. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A fire truck leads a bus down Main Street past damaged structures during a media tour in Lytton, B.C., on Friday, July 9, 2021, after a wildfire destroyed most of the village on June 30. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A Victoria house is disassembled by Unbuilders Deconstructors, with doors, windows and old-growth lumber recovered for remanufacturing and sale. Unbuilders received a $500,000 grant from B.C.’s building innovation fund last year. (Unbuilders photo via Facebook)

B.C. government looks to assist more low-carbon building solutions

$5M CleanBC building innovation fund opens for applications

A Victoria house is disassembled by Unbuilders Deconstructors, with doors, windows and old-growth lumber recovered for remanufacturing and sale. Unbuilders received a $500,000 grant from B.C.’s building innovation fund last year. (Unbuilders photo via Facebook)
Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May says the recent run of climatic crises in B.C. has shifted the discussion around climate change across Canada. (Black Press Media file photo)

Green MP calls on feds to help municipalities finance climate-resilient infrastructure

Elizabeth May has noticed a shift in the conversation about climate change

Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May says the recent run of climatic crises in B.C. has shifted the discussion around climate change across Canada. (Black Press Media file photo)
Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor says every dollar spent on initiatives designed to fight climate change must make an impact. He was defending council’s decision to withdraw from a regional climate strategy program he considers less effective and more expensive than the district’s own. (Black Press Media file photo)

Central Saanich mayor defends decision to withdraw from regional climate service

Ryan Windsor says CRD’s Climate Action Service duplicates district’s own actions

Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor says every dollar spent on initiatives designed to fight climate change must make an impact. He was defending council’s decision to withdraw from a regional climate strategy program he considers less effective and more expensive than the district’s own. (Black Press Media file photo)
The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. The government, which pledged in 2019 to plant 2 billion trees by 2030, has only planted 8.5 million trees so far, an access to information request by the Canadian Press shows. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Only 8.5 million of the two billion trees promised by PM have been planted so far

Despite the sluggish start, the Ministry of Natural Resources said the program isn’t falling behind

The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. The government, which pledged in 2019 to plant 2 billion trees by 2030, has only planted 8.5 million trees so far, an access to information request by the Canadian Press shows. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A program in Victoria’s Camosun College is giving automotive technicians the skills the need to work on electric vehicles. (Photo courtesy of Camosun College)

Mandate to enforce EV sales quotas needed by end of next year: Guilbeault

Road transportation accounts for one-fifth of Canada’s total greenhouse-gas emissions

A program in Victoria’s Camosun College is giving automotive technicians the skills the need to work on electric vehicles. (Photo courtesy of Camosun College)
Canadian meteorologist Jesse Mason poses for photos, in Rome, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. Jesse Mason grew up in Vancouver, passionate about the outdoors. He channeled that into a university degree in atmospheric science that eventually landed him a job as a television weather forecaster. That seemingly unlikely path led him to his current job, one with life-and-death implications for millions of people around the world. At the UN World Food Program, he’s charged with trying to get ahead of bad weather and climate catastrophes so the UN can prevent people from starving. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Andrew Medichini

Former B.C. weather forecaster models climate catastrophe for UN to prevent hunger

‘It’s becoming harder and harder to find: what is normal?’

Canadian meteorologist Jesse Mason poses for photos, in Rome, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. Jesse Mason grew up in Vancouver, passionate about the outdoors. He channeled that into a university degree in atmospheric science that eventually landed him a job as a television weather forecaster. That seemingly unlikely path led him to his current job, one with life-and-death implications for millions of people around the world. At the UN World Food Program, he’s charged with trying to get ahead of bad weather and climate catastrophes so the UN can prevent people from starving. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Andrew Medichini
In Stonefly Creek in Glacier Bay, Alaska, glacier retreat in the late 1970s revealed salmon spawning habitat in the new stream that was colonized within 10 years by pink salmon that grew rapidly to more than 5,000 spawners. (Jonathan Moore)

Melting glaciers could create 1,000s of kms of salmon habitat around B.C., Alaska by 2100

Climate change is rapidly changing environments for animals and researchers are urging protection

In Stonefly Creek in Glacier Bay, Alaska, glacier retreat in the late 1970s revealed salmon spawning habitat in the new stream that was colonized within 10 years by pink salmon that grew rapidly to more than 5,000 spawners. (Jonathan Moore)