McGill says pro-Palestinian protest outside senior administrator's home 'crosses the line'
McGill University has denounced a pro-Palestinian protest held Sunday outside the home of one of its senior administrators.
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, thousands of people will attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Here’s a primer on some of the terms and topics that will come up during the UN climate talks:
COP26: COP26 stands for Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change. This is a long name for what is basically the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. The meeting will bring together world leaders, scientists, NGOs and activists to push towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. The conference was initially supposed to take place in November 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paris Agreement: The 2015 Paris Agreement is an international treaty that committed 195 signing nations to meeting climate targets. The agreement’s long-term goal is to keep the rise in global temperature to below 2 C above pre-industrial levels (period before the industrial revolution), but preferably to limit the increase to 1.5 C. The agreement also wants signing nations to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Canada is a signatory to the Paris Agreement.
1.5 C: The preferred goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. Maintaining a 1.5 C increase or less means a milder impact on ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as fewer extreme weather events. However, a recent report by the UN climate body found that the world has already warmed by 1.1 C and is quickly approaching the 1.5 C benchmark.
Greenhouse gas emissions: Greenhouse gas emissions are gases that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. They are a main driver of climate change. The most common greenhouse gas emission is carbon dioxide, which is primarily emitted via human activity.
Net-zero emissions: Achieving net-zero emissions is when all the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced are offset by the emissions that are removed from the atmosphere. For countries, getting to net zero means either emitting no greenhouse gas emissions or offsetting emissions already in the atmosphere. Some examples of offsetting include planting new trees and adopting carbon-capture technology.
Carbon capture: Carbon capture describes any processes used to capture carbon dioxide before it enters the atmosphere. This includes the capturing process, as well as the transportation and storing processes. When carbon dioxide is captured, it is then compressed and permanently stored underground.
Carbon sinks: Carbon sinks are anything that absorbs carbon compounds from the atmosphere. The two most common carbon sinks are vegetation and the oceans. Carbon sinks are one way countries can offset their carbon emissions.
Clean energy: Clean energy is energy that comes from natural sources or from processes that are continuously replenished. Wind and solar power are examples of clean or renewable energy.
Sea level rise: Sea level rise is the measurement of how much global sea levels are rising as a result of climate change. According to NASA, sea level rise is primarily caused by two factors related to climate change: melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.
Oilsands: The oilsands in Alberta are a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, minerals and bitumen. The bitumen can be extracted and refined into consumer oil products, such as gasoline and diesel. The Alberta oilsands are the third largest oil reserve on Earth. According to the Carnegie Oil Climate Index, oilsands crude is associated with 31 per cent more emissions than the average North American crude.
Adaptation: Adaptation is the process of learning to live with an environment altered by climate change. This means taking measures to protect communities and ecosystems from climate change, as well as building to accommodate evolving environmental conditions. Adaptation can range in how much it disrupts our daily lives. Some examples of adaptation include: relocating entire communities, adopting new farming technology and building new structures to better withstand extreme weather events.
-With files from NASA, Global Citizen, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Natural Resources Canada
McGill University has denounced a pro-Palestinian protest held Sunday outside the home of one of its senior administrators.
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
Singapore Airlines will reward its employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of salary, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.
Katy Perry said her goodbyes on 'American Idol' after seven seasons. On Sunday night’s live 'idol' season finale, a medley of Perry's hit songs were performed, including 'Teenage Dream,' 'Dark Horse' and 'California Gurls.'
U.S.-based restaurant chain Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Florida court after securing $100 million in financing commitments from its existing lenders, the company said on Sunday.
A federal judge will reopen the sentencing hearing for the man who broke into Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer after the judge failed to allow him to speak during his court appearance last week.
OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some users said it sounded like Scarlett Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film 'Her.'
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you're doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.