Physicians, lawyers call on BC to investigate thousands of Heat Dome injuries
From WCEL: The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and West Coast Environmental Law Association today warned that BC’s recent Heat Dome may have caused an estimated five to six thousand heat-related injuries. “For every person who died from the Heat Dome, ten or more may have suffered heat stroke, dehydration or other complications, including permanent, life-altering injuries. Just like our planet, the human body is designed to operate safely in a narrow temperature range – and when we heat up too much, even by just 2 to 3 degrees, we lose our ability to cope,” said Dr. Melissa Lem. https://wcel.org/media-release/physicians-lawyers-call-bc-investigate-thousands-heat-dome-injuries
How many years until we must act on climate? Zero, say these climate thinkers
From The Guardian: We have zero years before climate and ecological breakdown, because it’s already here. We have zero years left to procrastinate. The longer we wait to act, the worse the floods, fires, droughts, famines and heatwaves will get. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/28/climate-crisis-zero-fossil-fuels-environment
Thirty Seniors Confronted RCMP at Fairy Creek and Declared Victory
From The Tyee: For the last 10 weeks, police have been presenting injunction papers to forest defenders, arresting 500 to date as the activists pushed back with a series of moving blockades to stop clear-cut logging. But the RCMP have also prevented law-abiding citizens, some wanting to observe or protest at Fairy Creek, or just to visit the old-growth forests, to access the area. On June 15, a busload of senior citizens organized by the elders to peacefully protest the arrest of forest defenders was turned away by police on the Gordon River Road and forced to back down the steep logging road in a driving rain. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/07/26/Thirty-Seniors-Confronted-RCMP-Fairy-Creek-Declared-Victory/
As Climate Emergency Batters World, Scientists Meet to Finalize Key Report Ahead of COP26
From Common dreams: Amid an ongoing wave of extreme weather disasters and ahead of a major United Nations climate conference this fall, top scientists from nearly 200 countries began meeting Monday to finalize a landmark report detailing how the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency is already wreaking havoc around the globe and what society must do to avert its most catastrophic consequences. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/07/26/climate-emergency-batters-world-scientists-meet-finalize-key-report-ahead-cop26
Plans of four G20 states are threat to global climate pledge, warn scientists
From the Guardian: A key group of leading G20 nations is committed to climate targets that would lead to disastrous global warming, scientists have warned. They say China, Russia, Brazil and Australia all have energy policies associated with 5C rises in atmospheric temperatures, a heating hike that would bring devastation to much of the planet. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/plans-of-four-g20-states-are-threat-to-global-climate-pledge-warn-scientists
COP26 will be most important summit ever, but the UK’s leadership is already falling short
From The Guardian: This summer alone has seen scorching heat domes smother parts of the US and Canada with record temperatures, and blistering heatwaves sweep across Pakistan. Torrential rain has caused devastating floods in China, as well as India, Germany, Belgium and Austria. And while fires are raging in Siberia, Madagascar is experiencing the world’s first famine caused solely by the climate crisis. Their destruction and death tolls are a daily reminder that COP-26 this autumn isn’t just the most important climate conference ever held, but the most important international summit of all time. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/23/cop26-summit-uk-fosil-fuels-carbon-offsetting
Wildfires have surged so dramatically they’re overtaking B.C.’s fossil fuel emissions
From the National Observer: Back in the 1990s, wildfires emitted an average of five million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) per year. In the following decade, the average tripled to 15 MtCO2 per year. And then, in the 2010s, wildfires leapt to an average of 56 MtCO2 per year — 10 times higher than in the 1990s. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/07/27/analysis/wildfire-surge-overtaking-bc-fossil-fuel-emissions
The insect apocalypse: ‘Our world will grind to a halt without them’
From The Guardian: Insects have declined by 75% in the past 50 years – and the consequences may soon be catastrophic. Biologist Dave Goulson reveals the vital services they perform. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/the-insect-apocalypse-our-world-will-grind-to-a-halt-without-them