Globe Climate: Noise pollution drowns out voices under the sea, threatening marine life

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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

Before we get deep into the news of the week, meet the climate-friendly cows bred to belch less methane.

Burps are the top source of emissions from cattle. But when Canadian dairy farmer Ben Loewith’s calves are born next spring, they will be among the first in the world to be bred with a specific environmental goal: cleaner burps. Loewith, a third-generation farmer in Lynden, Ont., started artificially inseminating in June.

Now, let’s catch you up on other news.

Noteworthy reporting this week:

1. Marine heat wave: Pacific Ocean temperatures, already warmer than usual, face looming El Niño
2. Flooding: Nova Scotia did not prepare for potential flooding despite warnings, report shows
3. Energy: How Alberta’s booming renewable-energy industry got caught in the decarbonization fight. Alberta must reassure renewable power market after wind, solar pause, says Energy Minister
4. Wildifres: Marathon wildfire season could persist into next month, Ottawa says. Meanwhile, B.C. is bracing for another heat wave as wildfires, drought continue across the province
5. Hawaii wildfires: After Maui wildfires kill 96, search for the missing continues. The death toll makes the blaze Hawaii’s worst natural disaster
6. Policy: Ottawa reveals details of proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, outlining flexible compliance options
7. Greenbelt: Doug Ford defends plan to build on Greenbelt despite scathing report
8. Labour: Ontario proposing ‘heat stress’ regulations to protect workers from health risks of rising temperatures
9. Podcast: How we search for planets that could host life, and how close we are to finding life beyond Earth
10. Analysis from The Narwhal: Canada’s wettest province faces historic drought – and a precarious new future

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A deeper dive

Dangerous noises drown out the voices under the sea

Imagine that you live in murky darkness, and sound is the primary sense by which you find dinner, avoid danger and keep your offspring close. Perhaps you are a sperm whale relying on Morse-code like clicks to find your pod, or a dolphin who uses echolocation to evade sharks. Maybe you’re a cleaner shrimp that advertises its services to reef fish by clapping. Or a male plainfin midshipman who hums to attract a mate.

Storms, waves and wind are the natural soundscape playing in the background. But now there’s the constant roar of cargo vessels, the piercing ping of sonar travelling for dozens of kilometres, and the blasts from oil and gas exploration sounding off like gunshots echoing on top of each other.

Since whales and many marine animals use sound to see, this would be like being caught in the inescapable glare of a blinding spotlight – with no idea of its source.

For humans, that kind of noise spikes blood pressure, steals sleep, increases anxiety and makes it near impossible to think straight. The European Environment Agency estimates that noise pollution contributes to 48,000 new cases of heart disease and 12,000 premature deaths each year. And the World Health Organization has declared the rising, incessant cacophony of the modern world to be a public health crisis – an environmental problem second only to air pollution in the harm it causes.

All that blasting, pounding and rumbling is damaging our ocean life as well. International studies suggest an ever-growing list of harms caused by human-generated noise: Dolphins catch less prey, disoriented whales struggle to avoid ship strikes, turtles temporarily lose their hearing, muddled lobsters cannot right themselves. Even coral reefs and seagrass appear to degrade when exposed to noise.

Scientists worry that noise is potentially damaging entire ecosystems, by changing the behaviour and harming the health of the inter-connected animals living there.

“The issue with noise that sets it apart is the enormous potential scale of impact,” says Dr. Lindy Weilgart. “It travels so fast and so far. From plankton to whales, everything is impacted by noise.”

This is an excerpt from Erin Anderssen’s recent story about polluting soundscapes. Read her full story today.

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What else you missed

• Exploring off-the-radar Oman offers a glimpse into its rich natural environment
• Howl program teaches young people about reconciliation, climate change
• Canadian oil sands carbon emissions stalled in 2022 even as output grew
• Alberta minister says federal strings on electricity climate funding a ‘threat’
• Amazon nations seek common voice on climate change, urge developed world to help protect rainforest
• Unprecedented levels of damage from storms this year are upending U.S. towns and the insurance industry

Opinion and analysis

Editorial board: How to adapt to metastasized climate heating

Eric Reguly: China’s net-zero pledges are starting to look like a fantasy as the emissions of the world’s biggest polluter keep rising

Gary Mason: Alberta’s freeze on renewable energy projects belongs in the hall of fame of dumb ideas

Mac Van Wielingen: Canada must learn the success of U.S. energy policy and the failure of Europe’s

Grace Brown: Favourable regulations and incentives – not a moratorium – are necessary for clean energy prosperity

Editorial board: The provinces have to embrace clean power. Alberta instead leads a resistance

Arno Kopecky: Alberta’s pause on renewable energy projects is so brazen, it’s almost impressive

Thomas Gunton, David Wheeler, Kyla Tienhaara: Trudeau government’s plan to end fossil fuel subsidies does not actually end a single one

Green Investing

Opinion: ESG investing is a powerful tool for the West, but we need to focus on the S and the G

Environment, social and governance, or ESG, could create a new, rules-based approach to enforce trade preferences while applying tariffs on bad actors. It could transform global trade into an aspirational exercise that maintains competition while recognizing global initiatives on labour standards or climate change, writes Erin O’Toole, the president of ADIT North America and the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

• Algonquin to pursue sale of renewable energy business, CEO steps down

Making waves

Each week The Globe profiles a Canadian making a difference, but we are taking a little break for the rest of summer. We’ll be back to showing off everyone’s great work in a few weeks.

Do you know an engaged individual? Someone who represents the real engines pursuing change in the country? Email us at GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com to tell us about them.

Photo of the week

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Guides and Explainers

• Want to learn to invest sustainably? We have a class for that: Green Investing 101 newsletter course for the climate-conscious investor. Not sure you need help? Take our quiz to challenge your knowledge.
• We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about what a carbon tax is and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
• We have ways to make your travelling more sustainable and if you like to read, here are books to help the environmentalist in you grow, as well as a downloadable e-book of Micro Skills - Little Steps to Big Change.

Catch up on Globe Climate

• Why is Alberta putting a pause on renewables?
• Can Tuvalu be saved for future generations?
• Cowboys confront the threat of climate change
• This lake shows when humans started changing the planet

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