DEVELOPING 120 active fires burning across Canada, 30 are 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
A 37-year-long study shows that the Earth’s fluctuating cryosphere – the area of the planet covered in ice and snow – averages a net loss of 87,000 square kilometres each year, with researchers attributing it to climate change.
The study, published in a journal by the American Geophysical Union, was done by researchers who calculated the size of the cryosphere on a daily basis between the years of 1979 and 2016 and later averaged out the yearly estimates.
“The cryosphere is one of the most sensitive climate indicators and the first one to demonstrate a changing world,” Xiaoqing Peng, co-author of the study and physical geographer at Lanzhou University, said in a media release. “It’s change in size represents a major global change, rather than a regional or local issue.”
Through their analysis, researchers in the study found that the Northern Hemisphere was impacted the most, decreasing in size by approximately 102,000 sq. km a year. But, in the Southern Hemisphere, the cryosphere actually increased in size by an average of 14,000 sq. km a year.
Still, researchers said that the overall shrinking of the cryosphere was a signal of climate change.
When looking at how long the cryosphere was frozen for, the study shows that a large proportion of it remained frozen for a shorter period of time over the years.
“The average first day of freezing now occurs about 3.6 days later than in 1979, and the ice thaws about 5.7 days later,” the study said.
The cryosphere is intended to reflect sunlight off its surface to cool the Earth, therefore the study says that the shrinking of this area could lead to global changes in air temperatures, sea levels, and ocean currents.
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
Canada's new $10-a-day child care program is expanding, but there's growing evidence that demand for the program is rising even faster, leaving many parents on the outside looking in.
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.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.