Another Climate Target Waiting To Be Missed?:

Parliamentary Budget Office Warning

The National Observer reports that
“Canada will not meet its 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction
targets without dramatically scaling up new technologies that the Parliamentary Budget Office warns could be “prohibitively expensive” in a sobering new report.”

Another Climate Target Waiting To Be Missed?: Parliamentary Budget Office WarningThe National Observer reports that
“Canada will not meet its 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction
targets without dramatically scaling up new technologies that the Parliamentary Budget Office warns could be “prohibitively expensive” in a sobering new report.”Read More

Climate change is making cities sick and we need to act: Urban Canadians are feeling the impact of climate change. Flooding in
Quebec this spring damaged nearly 1,900 homes in 126 municipalities,
causing widespread psychological distress.
Summer heatwaves are predicted to become more frequent and severe each
year, putting more people at risk of injury and death. Vancouver and
Toronto are working to manage these risks. Most Canadian cities need to work harder to include climate change in public health planning.

The Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill University
looks at how climate change is impacting human society, and what
solutions we can design to protect ourselves. Drawing on evidence from
our research into cities in Canada and around the world, we propose that
cities will need to integrate climate change concerns into public
health and the health-care sector more seriously.

Climate change is making cities sick and we need to act: Urban Canadians are feeling the impact of climate change. Flooding in
Quebec this spring damaged nearly 1,900 homes in 126 municipalities,
causing widespread psychological distress.
Summer heatwaves are predicted to become more frequent and severe each
year, putting more people at risk of injury and death. Vancouver and
Toronto are working to manage these risks. Most Canadian cities need to work harder to include climate change in public health planning.The Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill University
looks at how climate change is impacting human society, and what
solutions we can design to protect ourselves. Drawing on evidence from
our research into cities in Canada and around the world, we propose that
cities will need to integrate climate change concerns into public
health and the health-care sector more seriously.Read More

A hotter future is already here — and Canada is not ready | CBC News:

A hotter, more dangerous world

Adaptation will
require much greater action from governments — and learning some of the
lessons of the other public health crisis we’ve spent the past year and a
half fighting.

The institute’s report estimates that increased
economic, social and health care costs related to several of the effects
of climate change — ground-level ozone (smog), soaring heat and the
spread of Lyme disease — will amount to billions of dollars by
mid-century, even in a “low-emission” scenario. Damages and costs will
only increase if emissions are not reduced.

But because some
costs are difficult to project, researchers didn’t model all potential
impacts — on mental health, for instance, or the effects of poor air
quality due to wildfires, or weather-related threats to health care
facilities.

A hotter future is already here — and Canada is not ready | CBC News: A hotter, more dangerous worldAdaptation will
require much greater action from governments — and learning some of the
lessons of the other public health crisis we’ve spent the past year and a
half fighting.The institute’s report estimates that increased
economic, social and health care costs related to several of the effects
of climate change — ground-level ozone (smog), soaring heat and the
spread of Lyme disease — will amount to billions of dollars by
mid-century, even in a “low-emission” scenario. Damages and costs will
only increase if emissions are not reduced.But because some
costs are difficult to project, researchers didn’t model all potential
impacts — on mental health, for instance, or the effects of poor air
quality due to wildfires, or weather-related threats to health care
facilities.Read More

‘Most homes’ in Lytton, B.C., destroyed by catastrophic fire, minister says | CBC News: More than 1,000 people living in and around Lytton, B.C., northeast of Vancouver, were forced to leave with little notice Wednesday. They raced out of town as smoke and flames virtually decimated the entire community in one of the most destructive fire emergencies in recent memory.

The province said Thursday the loss includes “most homes” and structures in the village, as well as the local ambulance station and RCMP detachment. The local member of parliament said 90 per cent of the village is gone.

Conditions in Lytton were dangerously hot, dry and windy on Wednesday. The area endured the highest temperature ever seen in Canada on three consecutive days during an extreme heat wave earlier this week, topping out at 49.6 C on Tuesday.

‘Most homes’ in Lytton, B.C., destroyed by catastrophic fire, minister says | CBC News: More than 1,000 people living in and around Lytton, B.C., northeast of Vancouver, were forced to leave with little notice Wednesday. They raced out of town as smoke and flames virtually decimated the entire community in one of the most destructive fire emergencies in recent memory.The province said Thursday the loss includes “most homes” and structures in the village, as well as the local ambulance station and RCMP detachment. The local member of parliament said 90 per cent of the village is gone.Conditions in Lytton were dangerously hot, dry and windy on Wednesday. The area endured the highest temperature ever seen in Canada on three consecutive days during an extreme heat wave earlier this week, topping out at 49.6 C on Tuesday.Read More

‘Decisive’ decade in climate change fight needs lending surge: Governments and companies are working to cut greenhouse-gas emissions
and limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
To reach that, Irena, the United Nations climate change and renewable
energy adviser based in Abu Dhabi, estimates that private lenders and
capital markets will have to boost funding for renewable energy projects
nearly fourfold this decade to about $3.2 trillion a year.

Markets are already pushing a shift to renewables as costs for
projects such as solar and wind power have fallen while demand for
energy from carbon-emitting sources has dropped, according to Irena
Director General Francesco La Camera. Oil demand has already peaked and
construction of power plants using renewable energy sources are
consistently outpacing additions of generators using traditional fuels,
he said.

‘Decisive’ decade in climate change fight needs lending surge: Governments and companies are working to cut greenhouse-gas emissions
and limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
To reach that, Irena, the United Nations climate change and renewable
energy adviser based in Abu Dhabi, estimates that private lenders and
capital markets will have to boost funding for renewable energy projects
nearly fourfold this decade to about $3.2 trillion a year.Markets are already pushing a shift to renewables as costs for
projects such as solar and wind power have fallen while demand for
energy from carbon-emitting sources has dropped, according to Irena
Director General Francesco La Camera. Oil demand has already peaked and
construction of power plants using renewable energy sources are
consistently outpacing additions of generators using traditional fuels,
he said.Read More