Environment

The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. Yukon’s snow survey shows record high snowpacks in many of the basins the territory monitors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Yukon’s record snowpack adds potential for flooding during ice breakup

April survey usually represents the peak snow levels in most of the territory

The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. Yukon’s snow survey shows record high snowpacks in many of the basins the territory monitors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A couple are dwarfed by old growth tress as they walk in Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, B.C.,Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. An environmental organization is offering cautious support for an announcement that the largest private landowner in British Columbia will defer 400 square kilometres of old-growth stands from logging for the next 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Environmental group gives guarded support for company’s old-growth forest plan

Mosaic, B.C.’s largest private landowner, will defer logging in 400 square kilometres of old-growth

A couple are dwarfed by old growth tress as they walk in Avatar Grove near Port Renfrew, B.C.,Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. An environmental organization is offering cautious support for an announcement that the largest private landowner in British Columbia will defer 400 square kilometres of old-growth stands from logging for the next 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A pumpjack works at a well head on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta auditor general gives qualified thumbs-up to oil well cleanup spending

At the end of 2021, there was $420 million left to spend

A pumpjack works at a well head on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Mike Yip photo SNACK TIME: Marine wildlife of all kinds enjoyed a smorgasbord as the herring run arrives off Parksville’s shore last weekend. Here, photographer Mike Yip captures a sea lion getting in on the buffet.

Pacific herring spawn spectacle surfaces along West Coast

Seabirds and sea lions cry and bark while feasting on abundant herring return

Mike Yip photo SNACK TIME: Marine wildlife of all kinds enjoyed a smorgasbord as the herring run arrives off Parksville’s shore last weekend. Here, photographer Mike Yip captures a sea lion getting in on the buffet.
Coho salmon swim at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Capilano River Hatchery, in North Vancouver, on Friday, July 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Tire residue chemical in rain runoff kills fish in urban streams, research finds

Fish appear to gasp, swim erratically and in circles, then die

Coho salmon swim at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Capilano River Hatchery, in North Vancouver, on Friday, July 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gives a COVID-19 update in Edmonton, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. The premier has filed his defence in a defamation lawsuit brought against him over his remarks on the release of an Inquiry into supposed misinformation about the province’s energy industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

No victims, no foul: Alberta premier files defence in defamation suit

Statement of defence says groups that brought the lawsuit cannot be identified from his remarks

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gives a COVID-19 update in Edmonton, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. The premier has filed his defence in a defamation lawsuit brought against him over his remarks on the release of an Inquiry into supposed misinformation about the province’s energy industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
FILE - In this May 30, 2018, file photo, is the Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. About two-thirds of the scrubber wastewater that enters Canadian waters comes from cruise ships, a World Wildlife Fund says. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Study blames federal delays for continued marine waste dumping

World Wildlife Fund says billions of litres of wastewater being dumped in Canadian waters

FILE - In this May 30, 2018, file photo, is the Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. About two-thirds of the scrubber wastewater that enters Canadian waters comes from cruise ships, a World Wildlife Fund says. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
People who have declared themselves “Land Defenders” sing a song as they guard an area of a logging cut block called “Heli Camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Second judge to consider stay application of old-growth logging protesters in B.C.

More than 1,100 people have been arrested since Fairy Creek watershed blockade injunction

People who have declared themselves “Land Defenders” sing a song as they guard an area of a logging cut block called “Heli Camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Container ship MV Kingston was escorted from its anchorage off Victoria to Duke Point in Nanaimo following the loss of several containers and an on-board fire last fall. (Photo: Transport Canada)

MV Zim Kingston’s lost cargo containers still a deep concern for B.C. coast

Coast Guard says it is working with ship owner to investigate and respond to reports of debris

Container ship MV Kingston was escorted from its anchorage off Victoria to Duke Point in Nanaimo following the loss of several containers and an on-board fire last fall. (Photo: Transport Canada)
FILE - Matt Lisignoli walks through an irrigation canal that ran dry in early August after the North Unit Irrigation District exhausted its allocated water on Sept. 1, 2021, near Madras, Ore. The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest it has been in at least 1200 years and a worst-case scenario playing out live, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

Western American megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years

Study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change

FILE - Matt Lisignoli walks through an irrigation canal that ran dry in early August after the North Unit Irrigation District exhausted its allocated water on Sept. 1, 2021, near Madras, Ore. The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest it has been in at least 1200 years and a worst-case scenario playing out live, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
Fresh cut sawdust is seen from a tree cut near the “heli camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C., Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Crown calls application to stay charges in B.C. old-growth logging case flawed

Lawyer: Fairy Creek protest group’s petition lacks ‘factual foundation,’ not the way justice is done

Fresh cut sawdust is seen from a tree cut near the “heli camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C., Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. forest protest accused ask court to stay charges due to ’ systemic police misconduct’

RCMP have made close to 1,200 arrests enforcing Fairy Creek injunction

The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Volunteers made a “Plastic Goddess” from some of the debris collected in a 2019 beach clean-up of Baynes Sound and Denman Island. File photo by Gerry Ambury

Coastal communities ‘fed up’ with B.C. shellfish sector’s plastics problem

Feds committed $8 million to ghost gear recovery, B.C. dedicated $18 million to shoreline cleanups

Volunteers made a “Plastic Goddess” from some of the debris collected in a 2019 beach clean-up of Baynes Sound and Denman Island. File photo by Gerry Ambury
United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney addresses supporters in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Environmentalists threaten Alberta Premier Kenney with lawsuit over inquiry remarks

‘If Premier Kenney doesn’t follow the good advice of his lawyers, he will be served’

United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney addresses supporters in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second left, and Mark Carney take part in a panel discussion on carbon pricing at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made many policy announcements across the pond at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, a new poll hints at how Canadians feel about those developments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Most Canadians support the federal government’s climate policy announcements: poll

69% support Canada’s summit announcement

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second left, and Mark Carney take part in a panel discussion on carbon pricing at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made many policy announcements across the pond at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, a new poll hints at how Canadians feel about those developments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
A wildfire-scorched sequoia tree stands on a hillside, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Sequoia Crest, Calif. Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is planting sequoia seedlings in the area. The effort led by the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit trying to preserve the genetics of the biggest old-growth trees, is one of many extraordinary measures being taken to save giant sequoias that were once considered nearly fire-proof and are in jeopardy of being wiped out by more intense wildfires. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Hope after wildfire: Tiny sequoias could grow into giants

Measures underway to save trees at risk of being wiped out by more intense wildfires

A wildfire-scorched sequoia tree stands on a hillside, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Sequoia Crest, Calif. Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is planting sequoia seedlings in the area. The effort led by the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit trying to preserve the genetics of the biggest old-growth trees, is one of many extraordinary measures being taken to save giant sequoias that were once considered nearly fire-proof and are in jeopardy of being wiped out by more intense wildfires. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A tug boat cools the hull of the MV Zim Kingston Oct. 24 as crews work to control the ship’s fire. (Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard) A tug boat cools the hull of the MV Zim Kingston Oct. 24 as crews work to control the ship’s fire. (Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard)

Ship that lost 109 containers off B.C. coast is now stable: operator

Remaining containers safe and will be unloaded once a port of call has been identified

A tug boat cools the hull of the MV Zim Kingston Oct. 24 as crews work to control the ship’s fire. (Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard) A tug boat cools the hull of the MV Zim Kingston Oct. 24 as crews work to control the ship’s fire. (Courtesy Canadian Coast Guard)
Ships continue to work to control a fire onboard the MV Zim Kingston about eight kilometres from the shore in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, October 25, 2021. A special weather statement was issued for the Greater Victoria area as southeasterly winds gusting up to 90km per hour were forecasted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Refrigerators, styrofoam, garbage on B.C. beaches after containers spilled from ship

Items collected by helicopter off Cape Palmerston beach on the northwest side of Vancouver Island

Ships continue to work to control a fire onboard the MV Zim Kingston about eight kilometres from the shore in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, October 25, 2021. A special weather statement was issued for the Greater Victoria area as southeasterly winds gusting up to 90km per hour were forecasted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Crews keep surrounding containers and the hull of the MV Zim Kingston cool while fires continue to smoulder aboard the ship. (Canadian Coast Guard/Twitter)

Company hires contractor in effort to recover overboard containers off B.C.

Thermal cameras being used to find remaining hot spots on the MV Zim Kingston

Crews keep surrounding containers and the hull of the MV Zim Kingston cool while fires continue to smoulder aboard the ship. (Canadian Coast Guard/Twitter)
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

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