Protecting our Wild and Green Spaces
I have a personal connection to the trees and fields. In the Niagara Peninsula, my family tended a wood lot and lands with very old trees on them. When we had to sell our property, the trees that lined the fields and roadside were illegally cut down, and the fine simply paid.
Read moreA Look at Ontario's New Environment Plan
As the IPPC report, the recent Lancet report on health and climate change and others show, we are in a climate emergency and have very few years left to act, to keep global temperatures from warming over 1.5°C. Every incremental temperature increase matters, bringing with it more disastrous effects, such as life-threatening heat waves and extreme weather. As the environmental commissioner writes in her 2018 report, Climate Action in Ontario: What’s Next (ER Report), ”if we continue at current global emission rates, the toddlers of today will see severe, widespread and irreversible impacts, far beyond what they may be able to adapt to….Every tonne counts, and every action matters.”1
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The IPCC Report and Climate Action
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its special report on the impacts of climate change at 1.5°C and 2°C.
The results are clear - if the world keeps warming below 1.5°C, it will prevent an already dire situation from becoming so much worse. Among other impacts, ocean acidification, forest fires, falling crop yields, heat deaths and the spread of vector-borne disease all increase as the temperature rises.
As Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II articulates, “Every extra bit of warming matters, especially since warming of 1.5ºC or higher increases the risk associated with long-lasting or irreversible changes, such as the loss of some ecosystems.”1
Read moreEnvironmental Commissioner's New Report Asks What's Next for Climate Action in Ontario
Since Ontario saw its new government instated, climate action in Ontario has been disrupted. At the same time, some of the most recent reports show that we have as little as 10 years to stop using fossil fuels and that emissions must be on a decided downward trend by 2020 - just fifteen months. The need for effective, targeted and immediate climate action is critical. We must speak up for good climate plans and demand accountable climate action from government.
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