A Turning Point for our Oceans? What the High Seas Treaty Means

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS

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Marine life at Conch reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Credit: NOAA/ONMS/Hickerson

With more than 60 countries on board, the new international law will soon enter into force, ushering in the world’s first framework to conserve biodiversity across two-thirds of the ocean. Story here.

A FORMER FEDERAL CLIMATE MINISTER GIVES US "THE STRAIGHT GOODS" ABOUT THE OIL INDUSTRY

 CANADA'S NATIONAL OBSERVER

This week, former federal climate minister  Catherine McKenna didn't mince words  about the fossil fuel industry's broken  promises. "Why does anyone think they'll uphold any  of their side of any bargain?" she told Canada's  National Observer in an exclusive interview ahead of  her memoir launch. Her warning comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney  pursues a $16.5 billion "grand bargain" with oil  companies – the same companies that encouraged  Liberal pipeline purchases, raked in "obscene" profits,  then abandoned their climate commitments. This is the kind of story you won't find elsewhere. We  sat down with McKenna to get the unvarnished truth  about climate policy failures, corporate promises, and  what's really happening behind closed doors in Ottawa. And we're not finished digging. Right now, you can get a full year of Canada's National  Observer for just $69.99 – that's 50% off our regular  price.

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Almost all of the worst, most recent Canadian heat waves were made much more likely by human-caused climate change

Environment & Climate Change, Canada

  Nine of fhe the ten worst were made "much more likely" because of climate change. Story here. 

NFU Condemns Israel’s Destruction of Seeds in Palestine

The NFU (Canada) condemns the Israeli military forces' targeted destruction of a Seed Multiplication Unit in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. On 31 July 2025, the Israeli army, using bulldozers and heavy machinery, laid waste to Palestinian heritage seeds and key infrastructure belonging to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UWAC) -- a Palestinian farmer organization and member of the global La Via Campesina movement. Story here.

‘Afghanistan earthquake’ images used by major UK media outlets were likely made with AI.

FULL FACT

Five major UK media organisations shared images that were very likely made with AI in their reports on the recent earthquake in Afghanistan. Story here.

YET ANOTHER HEAT WARNING

 

WE TAMPER WITH THE "CARBON BOMBS" AT OUR PERIL

SCIENCE DENIAL & HELLFIRES. A LETTER.

 Dear Editor,

Seldom has contempt for science sunk as low as it has now. And my beloved Manitoba may not only be one example of that, but the worst! Winnipeg has long hosted what is perhaps the most renowned environmental “think-tank” the world has never heard of - “The International Institute for Sustainable Development.” Just the other day, the IISD revealed, Canada is home to no less than twelve fossil fuel reserves which it calls “carbon bombs.” (I call them the dirty dozen.) Just one, under Alberta and BC, has the potential to blow Canada past her emissions targets thirty times over. And, “If the resources from all twelve are extracted and burned, it would be catastrophic for the world's efforts to slow rising global temperatures.” Yet, “down the street” in the halls of power, our University-educated Premier is gleefully embracing more pipelines and the shipping of oil through Hudson Bay. Mr. Premier, how do you really think future Manitobans will regard your legacy as they lose their homes, fleeing for their lives to escape evermore frequent and devastating Hellfires?

Larry Powell,

SHOAL LK MB

Canada is Sitting on Twelve Carbon Bombs.

 International Institute for Sustainable Development

Just under the surface of B.C. and Alberta, in a rock formation known as the Montney Play, lies enough potential greenhouse gases to blow past Canada's 2030 emissions targets 30 times over. It's one of 12 fossil fuel reserves researchers in the journal Energy Policy have identified in Canada — called "carbon bombs" — that would each release a billion tonnes or more of carbon into the atmosphere if their resources were extracted and burned. This would be catastrophic for the world's efforts to slow rising global temperatures, the authors argue.

Here  is where those "bombs" are.

LNG carbon bomb tops Carney’s list of major projects

Canada's National Observer

A major carbon bomb sits atop Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first tranche of major projects, sparking backlash from environmental and Indigenous communities who say that doubling down on liquified natural gas is placing a dangerous bet on Canada’s future. Story here.

Ottawa to invest in biofuel production

Manitoba Co-Operator

Carney announces $370 million to biofuel production. 

Story here.

CAJ condemns targeted killing of journalists in Gaza

Canadian Asn. of Jouralists

Earlier this summer, a team of four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelance reporters were killed in a bombing by Israel. In the hours and days since we learned of the killing, we have also received considerable correspondence from members who have expressed their desire to see the CAJ issue a statement condemning the killings.

The CAJ’s position has always been, and always will be, that attacks on journalists anywhere in the world are attacks on journalism. Full stop.

Sunday’s deliberate attack was a devastating, appalling, and tragic loss of life. Once again, we join the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and other media organizations in condemning Israel’s killing of a team of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, and more than 190 others since Oct. 7, 2023. These acts are egregious breaches of humanitarian law and require independent investigations.

Full story here. 

MY LATEST LETTER IN THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

 DEAR EDIITOR, 

If our current crop of political leaders at all levels (Liz May excepted), is intentionally setting out to poke the gods of climate calamity with a stick - it couldn’t be doing a better job! In a grotesque display of either “eco-stupidity” or “climate illiteracy,” it’s gleefully setting out to turn (or burn) Canada into “an energy superpower!” That’s eerily identical to the goal uttered by Stephen “climate change is a Socialist plot” Harper more than a decade ago. And it’s all under the phoney guise of “nation-building.” These poor sods either don’t know, or care, that you can’t gain an upper hand on the climate beast by unleashing evermore greenhouse emissions into our air. And the main opposition voice federally, isn’t speaking out AGAINST these abominations, but going to bat for the gasoline car instead. As for our newly-minted PM, who’s shown loudly and clearly on the public stage he understands that climate change is "an existential threat," must not be acting out of ignorance or stupidity now, but rather something resembling malice aforethought. When you think about it, what could go wrong when we elect a world banker as our supreme leader? Perhaps the saying, “at least the Tories stab you from the front,” is true, after all. In any case, if any of them love their children, they have an odd way of showing it.

Larry Powell

SHOAL LK MB

Wildfires are reversing Canada's progress on improving air quality

CBC News

Air pollution 'is like the zombie that we thought we had killed,' says expert.  Story here.

Wildfires are reversing Canada's progress on improving air quality

Nicole Mortillaro · CBC News

Air pollution 'is like the zombie that we thought we had killed,' says expert. Story here.

ANOTHER ANGRY BLOGGER RANT

 If our current crop of political leaders at all levels (Liz May excepted), is intentionally setting out to poke the gods of climate calamity with a stick - it couldn’t be doing a better job! In a grotesque display of either “eco-stupidity” or “climate illiteracy,” it’s gleefully setting out to turn (or burn) Canada into “an energy superpower!” That’s eerily identical to the goal uttered by Stephen “climate change is a Socialist plot” Harper more than a decade ago. And it’s all under the phoney guise of “nation-building.” These poor sods either don’t know, or care, that you can’t gain an upper hand on the climate beast by unleashing evermore greenhouse emissions into our air. And the main opposition voice federally, isn’t speaking out AGAINST these abominations, but going to bat for the gasoline car instead. As for our newly-minted PM, who’s shown loudly and clearly on the public stage he understands that climate change is "an existential threat," must not be acting out of ignorance or stupidity now, but rather with downright malice aforethought. When you think about it, what could go wrong when we elect a world banker as our leader? Perhaps the saying, “at least the Tories stab you from the front,” is true, after all.) In any case, if any of them love their children, they have an odd way of showing it.

Larry Powell

SHOAL LK MB

An Unusual Sight Over Canada’s Arctic: Wildfire Smoke

By Vjosa Isai New York Times

Elizabeth Mikkungwak thought the nearby garbage dump must be on fire. Acrid smoke clouded the skies over Baker Lake, a tiny Arctic hamlet and the only inland community in Nunavut, the largest in area of the three northern territories in Canada.

A safety alert issued by the authorities in the hamlet in May gave the real reason for the smoke: wildfires on the Prairies.

Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency via Agence France-Presse

This year has been the second worst on record for wildfires in Canada, after 2023. Canadian officials warned earlier this week that heat and dry conditions would persist across the western provinces into September, priming the area for continued blazes.

[Read: What to Know About Canada’s Fire Forecast]

Wildfire smoke has in recent years become a more important factor in summertime outdoor recreation planning.

American politicians complained in July that Canada’s smoke spoiling their summers. Some outdoor tourism operators in the Atlantic provinces were dealt a blow this month when the premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick took drastic steps to prevent accidental fires caused by humans, banning outdoor activities such as hiking and fishing in forested areas. There have been outdoor pool closings in Newfoundland, canceled professional football practices in Manitoba and shuttered youth soccer tournaments in Yukon.

Even the Arctic has not been immune to disruptions.

Letting in an outdoor breeze is a simple delight during the summer months in the Arctic, where windows are otherwise frozen shut for most of the year. But the smell of wildfire smoke was too pungent for Ms. Mikkungwak of Baker Lake.

“We couldn’t open our windows,” she told me.

The smoke is another reminder of the effects of climate change, acutely felt by those living in the parts of Canada that depend on colder temperatures to maintain their way of life.

Wildfire smoke is, historically, extremely rare in the Arctic. But it has been a more common sight this year because of the combination of powerful winds, atmospheric conditions that have kept the smoke at ground level and the geographic proximity of wildfires across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

For the first time in its history, Baker Lake experienced wildfire smoke cover for three years in a row, from 2023 through this year, said Crawford Luke, a meteorologist in Winnipeg who works at Environment Canada, a federal department.

Iqaluit, Nunavut’s capital, which is on Baffin Island, just north of Quebec, had a record 19 hours of wildfire smoke cover this year. The last time the city had endured any wildfire smoke was in 1999, for one hour, Mr. Luke said.

Rankin Inlet, another larger community, had 71 hours of smoke cover this year, the second-most observed on record since 2023.

[Map: Tracking Heat Across Canada]

The presence of smoke in northern communities is a growing cause for concern, said Susan Natali, an Arctic ecologist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Mass. Researchers are working on installing low-cost sensors in communities that can monitor smoke as it becomes more prevalent, she said during a media briefing last month.

FEDS SPEND MILLIONS ON RESEARCH INTO WILDFIRES! (VIDEO)

By Larry Powell.

A CANADIAN OIL COMPANY SKATES FROM ACCOUNTABILITY IN AFRICA

by Larry Powell

According to Canada's National Observer, complaints of human rights and environmental abuses against Calgary-based, Recon Africa, have been piling up, unheeded for almost a-year-&-a-half. Recon has been drilling for oil near a world-heritage, wildlife preserve in Namibia for some time now. 

The cheetah. Photo by shani.

It's an oasis for endangered wildlife such as cheetahs, white rhinoceros, lions and African elephants.

SOUL, a coalition including indigenous people living in that area, filed a 187-page complaint with the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) about 500 days ago now. Apparently the main reason it's being ignored is because the head position at CORE has been vacant for some time, and remains so today!

SOUL alleges the company has ignored the rights of community members there to health, water, food and adequate housing. It also claims, Indigenous rights of free, prior and informed consent to operations in their territory have been ignored, as well.

 “At a time when the Carney government is laser focused on becoming an energy superpower … it’s concerning that Canada's approach to promoting responsible business abroad has come to this.” Sandra Wisner, director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto.

ROUNDUP CAUSES CANCER (VIDEO)

By Larry Powell

Italy’s renowned Ramazzini Institute has proven "40 ways from Sunday" that Roundup (and two other pesticide brands like it, whose main ingredient is glyphosate), do indeed cause cancer in lab rats. Read those findings here.

They confirm those of the International Agency for Research into Cancer (a branch of the World Health Organization) a decade ago. IARC warned then that “there’s sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity of glyphosate in experimental animals,” classifying it as “a probable human carcinogen.” 

This was sadly not enough to spark any action. Perhaps now...

Why it's easier to believe conspiracy theories than climate science

Keith Stewart

Greenpeace Canada

Conspiracy theories are fun until they get people killed. As a lifelong science fiction fan, I can’t help but marvel—grimly—at the creativity of some of the conspiracy theories around wildfires and extreme weather, but their role in obscuring the role played by climate change is going to get (more) people killed. Story here.

A Canadian researcher was 'indispensible' in helping Trump dismantle climate action.

Canada's National Observer

A Canadian economist and conservative columnist who recently called Prime Minister Mark Carney a "climate zealot" played a critical role in the Trump administration's push to eradicate US climate rules. Story here.

AI EXAMINES "THE MERCHANTS OF MENACE," MY NEW E-BOOK

 THE SUMMARY BELOW OF MY BOOK,"THE MERCHANTS OF MENACE," CROPPED UP MYSTERIOUSLY ON MY "X' (TWITTER) PAGE. IT SEEMS SOMEONE SET THE HOUNDS OF "AI" LOOSE TO DO A DETAILED ANALYSIS. BOT OR NOT, I'M FLATTERED THAT, SINCE FEW HUMANS HAVE, SOME "THING" HAS AT LEAST NOTICED IT! WHILE RATHER EMOTIONALLY ALOOF, IT'S REMARKABLY ACCURATE. BOT OR NOT, I'LL TAKE IT!

"The X post by Larry Powell announces the publication of an e-book titled "The Merchants of Menace," which critically examines the hog industry in Manitoba, Canada, highlighting issues of government and academic complicity in supporting corporate hog producers, potentially at the expense of animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and public health.

"The e-book is described as an independent, unauthorized, and unprecedented work of non-fiction, suggesting it offers a unique perspective that may challenge mainstream narratives about the industry, possibly supported by evidence from sources like Hog Watch Manitoba, which advocates for better practices in hog farming.

"The post's timing and focus on Manitoba's hog industry could be contextualized by the significant economic role of hogs in Canada, with farm cash receipts totaling $6.3 billion in 2020, and the ongoing debates about industrial farming practices, as evidenced by organizations like Hog Watch Manitoba pushing for reforms due to concerns over cruelty, pollution, and antibiotic resistance."

Collision course: fatal ship-strike risk from LNG tankers threatens great whales in B.C.’s Great Bear Sea

 World Wildlife Fund

Drone footage of fin whales in the Kitimat fjord system on B.C.’s North Coast © SWAG On the cusp of Canada Day under cover of darkness, liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers began crossing the Great Bear Sea on B.C.’s North Coast before navigating the long and winding Kitimat fjord system — 140 kilometres in length and as little as two kilometres wide at points — to fill up at LNG Canada’s now-operational terminal at the end of Douglas Channel before heading back toward Asia. Not only did this begin despite no public plan to address the deadly threats to at-risk fin whales and humpbacks that the coming 700 per cent increase in vessel traffic will cause over the next five years, but the first five trips also all happened at night, further increasing the threat of fatal ship strikes with the crew’s nighttime visibility limited. Fin whales, the second-biggest animal to exist on Earth after blue whales, can be up to 27 metres long and as heavy as 80 tonnes. While these gentle giants generally stick to the high seas, there are just a handful of fjord systems in the entire world that they enter — and this is one of them. Once the most numerous great whale in the world, fin whales were also hunted in greater numbers than any other during the industrial whaling era of the 20th century — in the southern hemisphere alone, more than 725,000 fin whales were killed. In B.C., approximately 25,000 whales were killed, mostly Pacific fin whales, between 1905 and 1967, when whaling was finally banned. According to Hakai magazine, around 100 of them were killed in the Kitimat fjord system to be “processed into oil and animal feed,” and surviving whales stayed away from this area for decades until finally returning in the early 2000s. A 15-year study followed, authored by a team of B.C.-based researchers including WWF-Canada’s lead marine conservation specialist Hussein Alidina, which we covered in 2021 in an article called Giant fin whales return to B.C. rainforest fjord — there’s just one problem. That one problem was that these fin whales — now the cetacean species most struck and killed by commercial ships — were soon to be joined in their historic waters by LNG tankers. Another peer-reviewed study, published in 2023 by a team of researchers and WWF partners, estimated that by 2030, LNG vessel traffic to and from the export terminals in Kitimat will result in 30 times more whale-vessel encounters annually for ships more than 180 metres in length. At around 300 metres, LNG tankers are typically much longer. The models in this study predict that, when fully operational, LNG-related shipping will lead to the deaths of two fin whales and 18 humpbacks each year over the terminal’s 40-year lifespan unless effective mitigation measures are put in place. Reducing speeds below 10 knots, for example, can decrease the likelihood of a strike being lethal. Humpback whale breaching near Gill Island at the entrance to the Kitimat fjord system. © Andrew S. Wright / WWF-Canada Unfortunately, LNG Canada’s marine mammal monitoring and management plan, required as part of the project’s conditions, is proprietary and has not been made public or been independently reviewed. As a result, we have low confidence in its effectiveness.  There is no indication of how the impacts of this increased shipping on at-risk whales will be monitored, and no way of knowing how or if data on whale strikes will be collected.  In addition to increasing strike risk, this intensification of commercial shipping is bringing a significant increase in underwater noise and waste dumping to a marine environment that is already too loud and too dirty.  Government and industry must address these fundamental threats by regulating vessel speeds, timing of transits and routes through critical whale habitat while at the same time monitoring the effectiveness of these mitigations.  Without such a comprehensive plan, WWF-Canada remains very concerned that there will be unsustainable losses from the predicted 230-per-cent increase in fin whale deaths and 390-per-cent increase in humpback whale deaths over the next four decades, reversing the recovery of these incredible and now increasingly at-risk whales.