News

Canada wasn't prepared for natural disasters in 2021 — and next year threatens a repeat – CBC News

Published

3 years ago

December 26, 2021

After a year that saw deadly heat domes, massive wildfires and historic flooding, Ottawa is being pressed to do more to help Canadians prepare for the effects of an increasingly volatile and dangerous climate.

Few Canadian cities know the price of climate change better than Kamloops, B.C., which experienced temperatures above 40C for nearly a full week this summer and — not long after — massive wildfires that put hundreds of residents under evacuation notices.

Months later, Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian reflected on his city’s stressful year and the lack of preparation and infrastructure he believes aggravated the damage caused by the heat and fires.

“I think what’s really missing is that whole support for local infrastructure and, in particular, some of the protective infrastructure,” Christian told CBC News.

“We were not as prepared as we needed to be, and we look to both the provincial and the federal government.”

According to a 2019 report often cited by the federal government, Canada’s climate is warming two times faster than the global average — three times faster in the North.

The rapidly changing climate is acknowledged — in the words of one government report — to be increasing “the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme events like heat waves, wildfires, and floods.” The trend is expected to continue for several decades, even if climate-warping emissions are reduced globally.

Have questions about climate science, policy or politics? Email us at ask@cbc.ca or join us live in the comments now.

Soldiers deployed in response to November’s record-setting B.C. floods fill sandbags to help protect dikes in Princeton, B.C. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

To better cope with the effects of climate change, Ottawa plans in 2022 to finalize its National Adaptation Strategy, an overarching set of plans and procedures to improve Canada’s climate resilience.

“As climate impacts continue to rise, the government recognizes that a more ambitious, strategic and collaborative approach is required to adapt and build resilience to the changing climate,” said a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada in an email.

The government started work on the plan in the spring of 2021 and is scheduled to release the final report in the fall of 2022.

2021 revealed ‘the best and the worst’ of climate policy

Paul Kovacs, founder and executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western University, said the disasters of 2021 demonstrated the urgent need for a stronger climate plan.

“In the current year, we have seen the best and the worst of what Canadian policy does in terms of dealing with disasters,” Kovacs told CBC News.

While he said Canada has become adept at responding to emergencies as they happen, more must be done to prevent disasters and help communities recover from them.

B.C. Premier John Horgan described his province’s fall flooding disaster as a once-every-500-years event — but Kovacs said equally extreme floods, heat, fires, tornadoes and hurricanes should be expected in the coming years.

“These will be enormously bigger than anything we’ve experienced in the past when they do occur,” he said.

Communities still ‘too busy responding to natural disasters’

Chirstian’s wish list of climate projects and infrastructure upgrades for Kamloops is a long one. It includes new emergency centres to protect residents during periods of extreme heat or poor air quality, more protective dikes and better wildfire protection.

In 2018, the federal government created a disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, now backed by $3.375 billion. Christian said federal money to pay for major projects has not yet arrived in his city.

“We’re too busy responding to natural disasters to actually do planning and exercises and logistics,” Christian said.

Coastal communities also need more protection. A report released this month by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaption at the University of Waterloo found that Canada lacks a national system to assess risk in coastal areas.

The report called on the federal government to fund more natural infrastructure projects — such as stabilizing cliffs and restoring wetlands — to protect communities from rising sea levels.

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

News

Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

—

AP MLB:

Source link

News

Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

___

AP tennis:

Source link

News

Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

Source link