Peat fires, like those raging in Siberia, will become more common in Canada | CBC Radio: Peat fires not only release CO2, but other, more potent greenhouse gases such as methane, as well as particulate matter, “which is the stuff that gets into our lungs, it can cause respiratory disease and asthma attacks,” said Turetsky.

A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that peatlands in Canada are drying up and that fires will become more common in the future.

One recent example was the 2018 wildfire at Alkali Lake in B.C., which scorched the Tahltan Nation community of Telegraph Creek.

Chad Thomas, a member of the Tahltan First Nation and CEO of Yukon First Nations Wildfire, a group of Indigenous firefighters who have worked in Canada as well as overseas, said peat fires are trickier to handle than more conventional wildfires.

For one thing, unlike crown fires, which take place in trees, peat fires happen largely underground. Because the heat can become trapped many feet below the forest floor, peat fires can be “very hard to extinguish,” Thomas said.

“The fires can creep underground and pop back up along your control lines.”

Peat fires, like those raging in Siberia, will become more common in Canada | CBC Radio: Peat fires not only release CO2, but other, more potent greenhouse gases such as methane, as well as particulate matter, “which is the stuff that gets into our lungs, it can cause respiratory disease and asthma attacks,” said Turetsky.A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that peatlands in Canada are drying up and that fires will become more common in the future.One recent example was the 2018 wildfire at Alkali Lake in B.C., which scorched the Tahltan Nation community of Telegraph Creek.Chad Thomas, a member of the Tahltan First Nation and CEO of Yukon First Nations Wildfire, a group of Indigenous firefighters who have worked in Canada as well as overseas, said peat fires are trickier to handle than more conventional wildfires.For one thing, unlike crown fires, which take place in trees, peat fires happen largely underground. Because the heat can become trapped many feet below the forest floor, peat fires can be “very hard to extinguish,” Thomas said.“The fires can creep underground and pop back up along your control lines.”Read More

A Quarter of Bangladesh Is Flooded. Millions Have Lost Everything.: The inequity is striking, no matter which way you slice it. One recent analysis found that the world’s richest 10 percent
are responsible for up to 40 percent of global environmental damage,
including climate change, while the poorest 10 percent account for less
than 5 percent. Another estimated that warming had reduced incomes in the world’s poorest countries by between 17 percent and 30 percent.

Poor
countries have long sought a kind of reparations for what they call
loss and damage from climate change. Rich countries, led by the United
States and European Union, have resisted, mainly out of concern that
they could be saddled with liability claims for climate damage.

It
doesn’t help that the rich world has failed to deliver on a $100
billion aid package to help poor countries cope, promised as part of the
2015 Paris accord.

A Quarter of Bangladesh Is Flooded. Millions Have Lost Everything.: The inequity is striking, no matter which way you slice it. One recent analysis found that the world’s richest 10 percent
are responsible for up to 40 percent of global environmental damage,
including climate change, while the poorest 10 percent account for less
than 5 percent. Another estimated that warming had reduced incomes in the world’s poorest countries by between 17 percent and 30 percent.Poor
countries have long sought a kind of reparations for what they call
loss and damage from climate change. Rich countries, led by the United
States and European Union, have resisted, mainly out of concern that
they could be saddled with liability claims for climate damage.It
doesn’t help that the rich world has failed to deliver on a $100
billion aid package to help poor countries cope, promised as part of the
2015 Paris accord.Read More

Canada LNG Alliance – new name, same old fossil fuel giants: This
is an industry support group focused primarily on maximizing profits.
The companies that make up this alliance have consistently demonstrated
contempt for democratic processes, Indigenous rights and this planet’s
ability to sustain life. We should all be on high alert about
misinformation distributed by the Canada LNG Alliance.

Industry
associations like the Canada LNG Alliance help already-powerful
companies combine powers with others for maximum impact. The Canadian
Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) is another example – CAPP has
consistently undermined effective climate policy in Canada and has a
history of interfering with the realization of Indigenous
sovereignty. In the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, CAPP took the
opportunity to push its policy wish list on the federal government. A
secret memo revealed their asks included major deregulation and
subsidies for the oil and gas industry but CAPP hid these demands behind
a smokescreen of ”economic recovery.”

Canada LNG Alliance – new name, same old fossil fuel giants: This
is an industry support group focused primarily on maximizing profits.
The companies that make up this alliance have consistently demonstrated
contempt for democratic processes, Indigenous rights and this planet’s
ability to sustain life. We should all be on high alert about
misinformation distributed by the Canada LNG Alliance. Industry
associations like the Canada LNG Alliance help already-powerful
companies combine powers with others for maximum impact. The Canadian
Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) is another example – CAPP has
consistently undermined effective climate policy in Canada and has a
history of interfering with the realization of Indigenous
sovereignty. In the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, CAPP took the
opportunity to push its policy wish list on the federal government. A
secret memo revealed their asks included major deregulation and
subsidies for the oil and gas industry but CAPP hid these demands behind
a smokescreen of ”economic recovery.”Read More

Reducing Air Pollution Has Helped Children in Northeast U.S., Study Finds: “What makes this study particularly important is that it
shows how we have so absurdly undervalued the welfare of our children in
how we approach our public policies,” said Aaron Bernstein, interim
director of the Center for Climate, Health and Global Environment
at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a pediatrician at
Boston Children’s Hospital, to WBUR. Bernstein was not involved with the
study. “We really have a lot to gain by fully accounting for what air
pollution and other forms of pollution do to children,” he added.

The researchers quantified just how much RGGI has contributed
to children’s health. The main driver for the improved health was from
the reduction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Due to the
restriction, the region avoided an estimated 537 cases of child asthma,
112 preterm births, 98 cases of autism spectrum disorder, and 56 cases
of low birth weight from 2009 to 2014, which provided an economic
savings of between $191 million to $350 million, according to Environmental Health News.

Reducing Air Pollution Has Helped Children in Northeast U.S., Study Finds: “What makes this study particularly important is that it
shows how we have so absurdly undervalued the welfare of our children in
how we approach our public policies,” said Aaron Bernstein, interim
director of the Center for Climate, Health and Global Environment
at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a pediatrician at
Boston Children’s Hospital, to WBUR. Bernstein was not involved with the
study. “We really have a lot to gain by fully accounting for what air
pollution and other forms of pollution do to children,” he added.The researchers quantified just how much RGGI has contributed
to children’s health. The main driver for the improved health was from
the reduction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Due to the
restriction, the region avoided an estimated 537 cases of child asthma,
112 preterm births, 98 cases of autism spectrum disorder, and 56 cases
of low birth weight from 2009 to 2014, which provided an economic
savings of between $191 million to $350 million, according to Environmental Health News.Read More

Some teachers are preparing for school by preparing their wills:

The Alberta model has already been tentatively adopted by the Toronto
Catholic District School Board, which voted on Thursday that if the
government mandates a full reopening, they would do so with no reduced
class sizes. When asked on Twitter why the board was not enforcing the
wearing of masks, Trustee Norm Di Pasquale said it was beyond the
ability of schools to enforce a requirement that was not required of
public health, a bizarre argument from a board that regularly enforces
the skirt lengths of female students. 

Some teachers are preparing for school by preparing their wills: The Alberta model has already been tentatively adopted by the Toronto
Catholic District School Board, which voted on Thursday that if the
government mandates a full reopening, they would do so with no reduced
class sizes. When asked on Twitter why the board was not enforcing the
wearing of masks, Trustee Norm Di Pasquale said it was beyond the
ability of schools to enforce a requirement that was not required of
public health, a bizarre argument from a board that regularly enforces
the skirt lengths of female students. Read More