Burning coal, oil and gas is causing the world to heat at an unnaturally rapid rate. Destroying forests, wetlands, grasslands and marine ecosystems, which act as “carbon sinks,” drives the fever higher. Peatland conversion for agriculture is thought to have fuelled some global warming even before the current era of prolific and wasteful fossil fuel […]
Science Matters
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fossil fuel industry faces an overdue reckoning
Oil giant ExxonMobil’s leaders have a long history of doing everything to keep the world from addressing climate change. They’ve buried company research showing the link between burning fossil fuels and a dangerously heating planet. They’ve sowed distrust and spread misinformation. They’ve lobbied politicians, set up and joined fake grassroots organizations, funded deniers and commissioned […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Sun rises on renewable energy and storage
One long-held excuse for not getting off oil, gas and coal faster is that energy sources like solar and wind only work when the sun’s shining or the wind’s blowing. Now, rapid advances in energy storage technologies, along with falling prices, have rendered that excuse meaningless. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, from the environmental […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Does fracked methane deserve “natural” label?
On his first day in office, US president Joe Biden announced plans to impose limits on methane emissions from oil and gas the previous administration cancelled. That’s good news. The UN Environment Programme and Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s “Global Methane Assessment” said, “Reducing human-caused methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective strategies to […]
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The alarming links between climate, ocean and cryosphere
We’ve been dumping oil, plastic, toxic chemicals, radioactive sludge, sewage and fishing gear into the ocean for decades. We depend on oceans for so much, including half the oxygen that keeps us alive. They’re a source of protein for many people worldwide, and they absorb much of the rising heat from our indiscriminate fossil fuel […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Carbon, climate and corruption coalesce in concrete
Most of us rarely think about concrete, but it’s the foundation of modern society — from roads, buildings and bridges to the economy, political power and crime. We use more of it than anything except water. Concrete has been a great driver of human progress. It’s allowed us to build up instead of out, made […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Indigenous input on energy matters
Energy is inextricably linked to a range of community issues, from health to housing. That was one message that emerged from a four-day gathering in Calgary of more than 200 young Indigenous leaders from every province and territory, organized by Disa Crow Chief of the Siksika Nation and Cory Beaver of the Stoney Nakoda Nation. […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Winter weather doesn’t disprove global warming
Weather and climate aren’t the same. It’s one thing for people who spend little or no time learning about global warming to confuse the two, but when those we elect to represent us don’t know the difference, we’re in trouble. For a U.S. president to tweet about what he referred to as “Global Warming” because […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Children should be seen and heard
Summer 2018 was Sweden’s hottest since record-keeping began more than 260 years ago — marked by drought, wildfires and extremely low reservoir levels. That was too much for 15-year-old Greta Thunberg. She heard politicians talking about climate change but didn’t see them doing enough about it. So she refused to go to school until a […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Pipeline blockade is a sign of deeper troubles
Recent controversy over a natural gas pipeline blockade and the differing priorities of hereditary chiefs and elected band councillors illustrates a fundamental problem with our systems of governance and economics. Elected councils for the Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous bands have signed lucrative “impact benefit agreements” with TransCanada (now called TC Energy), builder of the Coastal […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Political climate is heating up
Global warming isn’t a partisan issue—or it shouldn’t be. The many experts issuing dire warnings about the implications of climate disruption work under political systems ranging from liberal democracies to autocratic dictatorships, for institutions including the U.S. Department of Defense, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and numerous business organizations and universities. In 1988, when NASA […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Major health study shows benefits of combatting climate change
During the holiday season, people often drink toasts to health. There’s something more we can do to ensure that we and others will enjoy good health now and into the future: combat climate change. “Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, and tackling it could be our greatest health opportunity,” […]