If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this e-mail newsletter to you, you can sign up for Globe Climate and all Globe newsletters here.
Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
On Monday, water began flowing overtop a landslide that has blocked the Chilcotin River in B.C. for about a week, forcing the province to issue an emergency evacuation alert to nearby residents.
As of Sunday morning, the Tŝilhqot’in National Government said the slide was holding back 61 million cubic metres of water or “24,400 Olympic swimming pools.”
While the consequences of the water carving its way through the dam are still unfolding, Tl’etinqox Chief Joe Alphonse, tribal chairman of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, said his concerns rest with the impact of the landslide on critical salmon runs.
Present natural disaster aside, this year was already forecast to have record low returns for sockeye and chinook salmon. In its preseason forecast, the Tŝilhqot’in National Government said this year’s returning salmon are the babies of migrating salmon who were caught up in the 2019 Big Bar landslide in the Fraser River and also suffered record low returns. Additionally, high river temperatures are expected to increase levels of stress and mortality within 2024 stocks.
The Tŝilhqot’in government put both the Upper Chilcotin Chinook and Taseko Sockeye at high risk of extinction on its Salmon Health Report Card this year.
Since time immemorial, the Tŝilhqot’in people have fished these stocks, and their territory includes one of the strongest sockeye salmon runs in North America. But for the past few years, their community-based fishery has fought to recover and sustain declining populations of steelhead, chinook and sockeye.
At the time of the slide, the majority of the Taseko Sockeye were likely still downstream and their spawning grounds could be seriously affected, the Tŝilhqot’in government said on Aug. 2. It has called upon all levels of government, downstream First Nations, the Pacific Salmon Commission, other Nations and States, and fisheries to conserve Tŝilhqot’in territory-bound salmon until the emergency is resolved and the landslide’s impacts on the stocks are known.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Outlaw Ocean: China is buying its way into other countries’ fishing grounds, threatening livelihoods and depleting fish stocks
- Olympics: The Paris Olympics are the greenest Games ever – and none of the athletes like it
- Adventure: This Ontario couple have spent their lives searching for the places that inspired the Group of Seven’s work
- Wildfires: Was the Jasper wildfire fuelled by a storm it created? Investigators race to understand a growing threat
- From The Narwhal: How bureaucracy is stifling Canada’s renewable energy ambitions
A deeper dive
Sarah Douglas of Team Canada competes in the Women's Dinghy ILCA class at Marseille Marina on Aug. 3.Phil Walter/Getty Images
What does a Team Canada meteorologist do?
Last week, The Globe spoke to meteorologist Eric Holden for a feature about the science behind Olympic sailing.
For this week’s deeper dive, Pippa reached Eric in Marseilles to learn more about how he became the Canadian Olympic sailing team’s go-to forecaster.
This is Eric Holden’s third Olympics, but not as an athlete. In 2004, Eric’s vie for the sailing team at the Athens Olympics came up short, but it didn’t deter him from staying in the sport. Marrying his two loves, sailing and meteorology, Eric has worked at the London 2012 Olympics, Tokyo 2020 Olympics and now the Paris 2024 Olympics, in a unique role that allows him to give back to the sport that has given him so much.
I reached Eric over Zoom to chat about what a Team Canada meteorologist does and why the heat wave in France doesn’t bode well for sailors.
Q: How did you become a meteorologist for an Olympic sailing team?
A: I went to the University of British Columbia and studied meteorology and worked for Environment Canada, but I was also a competitive racer for five years on the Canadian sailing team. I did a campaign for the Athens Olympics but finished second in our trials so didn’t actually go to the Olympics. But I have a really strong sailing background, so I know the needs of the athletes and how to best support them.
Q: What does an average day look like for you right now?
A: My day starts really early at 5:30 in the morning, when I get up to prepare the forecast and I have to have that to the team by 8:30. That has my predictions for how the day is going to unfold. And then I’ll meet up with the coaches at 10, give them a little update, and a team briefing to see how it’s going to unfold and answer any questions. And then we go over to the athletes preparing on the boat park, and with the athlete and the coaches I have a last-minute update before they go on the water. Racing can start any time between noon and 3:00 p.m., so different classes will go at different times and I give individual briefings then. When they come back in, it’s their turn to debrief me and tell me how the conditions were because I’m not allowed on the water with them. Then I give them a brief forecast for the next day, and it starts again. It’s a long event, so I’m out here for two weeks doing that each day.
Q: Do you feel like you have a stake in the success of the athletes?
A: As a forecaster, I’m as proud of my forecast as they are of their racing, so if my forecast doesn’t go right, I feel as bad as if they have a bad race out there.
Q: How is our changing climate affecting sailing?
A: It’s important not to blame every kind of weather event on global warming because there’s so much variability in the wind, but even this week, being in this heat wave that is 10 degrees above normal for August, which is generally quite hot, shows that conditions are challenging. Sailing, in general, is doing a lot to reduce its footprint. In the past, every athlete has had a coach out there with a petrol outboard engine, but there are plans being developed to limit the number of coaches so that they’re burning less gas out on the racecourse. A lot of the marks now being laid are also electric, so they don’t need a boat to go out there and set them.
Q: What has Marseilles been like for sailing, as far as conditions go?
A: I always knew that Marseille, being in the Mediterranean, in the summer was going to be a challenging, hot place, but we’ve been in a heat wave since the start of the event. That has played havoc with the winds. Heat waves and sea breezes don’t usually go well together, so we’ve been in very hot conditions with no wind to cool you down. A lot of the athletes are getting a bit agitated by the challenging and flukey light air conditions, and they’re really hoping for some steady breeze.
Q: What’s the most interesting part of your job?
A: All the unique places that you get to go as a sailor. We don’t race in a stadium or indoor environment, so we’re out there in nature and there’s so much variability and you learn so much about weathering climate by visiting different places around the world.
Q: Do any of your forecasts ever go incredibly wrong?
A: That definitely happens. It’s important to understand the why behind it and make it a learning opportunity. If you can learn something from it and make your forecast better for the next time, then that’s really useful. But also, it’s really helpful for people to know the confidence level that you have in your forecast because some days are naturally less predictable than others.
Q: What would be your dream location for an Olympic sailing course?
A: I’d love to have the summer Olympics back in Canada during my lifetime. Olympic sailing was in Kingston back in 1976 and that was a great event. It’s a location that every Canadian sailor knows well and has wonderful summer sea breezes. I’m not sure if there are any bids in the works, but that would be great.
What else you missed
- Sturgeon have survived in Alberta rivers for millions of years, but their future is less certain
- Trudeau meets officials, evacuees following Jasper wildfire
- A new type of walking tour goes beyond the usual tourist stops
- Alberta renewable energy pause has left legacy of cancelled development, study shows
- Oil sands producers hold off environmental reports in wake of Ottawa’s new anti-greenwashing rules
- How to stay safe when exercising in the heat
Opinion and analysis
Rita Trichur: It’s a good thing that electric vehicles haven’t caught on yet – they’re inflationary
Tony Keller: Canada is about to lose more than 100,000 farming jobs. That’s great economic news
Editorial board: The duelling demands for clean power
Craig Alexander: As the world warms, Canadian agriculture can be a global strategic asset
John Rapley: The solution the Canadian economy badly needs: high-speed rail
Green Investing
How Alberta business owners can get help navigating the damage and interruption caused by wildfires
Alberta business owners facing losses from wildfire damage can get help navigating the crisis to ensure they can limit the drain on cash flows and support their employees, experts say.
To mitigate the damage and pave the way for future rebuilding, business owners need to be resourceful in co-operating with insurance providers, seeking help from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and contacting their banks for accommodation.
This year’s Alberta wildfire has destroyed 30 per cent of Jasper and caused estimated damage of $700-million, making it one of the most expensive fires in recent years.
- Oil giant Saudi Aramco’s quarterly profit dips 3 per cent, keeps US$31.1-billion dividend unchanged
- Expanded Trans Mountain pipeline capacity fails to lift Canadian heavy oil price
- Potential tariffs on Chinese EV imports welcomed by GM Canada as BYD looks to enter market
The Climate Exchange
Check out our new digital hub where you can ask your most pressing questions about climate change. It’s a place where we hope to help by answering your questions, big and small, about the continuing changes and challenges around climate change. Along the way, we’ll aim to highlight the people, communities and companies who are working toward climate solutions and innovations. For the record: while RBC supports the initiative financially, the company has no say in what questions get asked or how The Globe answers them.
Photo of the week
BATH, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 03: Kassie Stuckemeyer loses her balance after dodging a fish during Betty DeFord's Original Redneck Fishin' Tournament on August 03, 2024 in Bath, Illinois. The annual fishing tournament targets Asian carp (also known as copi or silver carp) which is an invasive species in the Illinois river that has been destructive to the natural ecosystem and hazardous to boaters because of the propensity of the fish to leap up to 10 feet out of the water when spooked by vibrations from boat motors. Participants in the tournament use only fish landing nets to try and catch the fish while they are airborne. Many tournament anglers wear helmets and other protective gear to help prevent injuries when they get struck by airborne fish during the contest. Proceeds from the tournament are used to help homeless veterans. The captured fish are processed into fertilizer. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Scott Olson/Getty Images
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, what happened at COP28 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
- In the wake of Jasper’s wildfire
- Suspense builds around water quality in the Seine
- Ice is clogging the Northwest Passage
- Impasse at the New Brunswick Nuclear Reactor
We want to hear from you. Email us: GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.