An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A top international conservation agency warned that 28 per cent of the 138,374 species identified on its "survival watchlist" as being under threat have now been moved to the more dangerous "red list" -- meaning they are at high risk of extinction.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported during its annual Red List update on Saturday in Marseille, France, that despite global improvement at the species level, the number of species that are at high risk continues to grow.
The organization said that many regional tuna stocks remain severely depleted. For example, yellowfin tuna continues to be overfished in the Indian Ocean.
Their update also included a reassessment of the world's shark and ray species, which shows that 37 per cent of those species are now facing extinction. All of the threatened shark and ray species are overfished, IUCN reported, with 31 per cent of them further affected by loss and degradation of habitat and 10 per cent also affected by climate change.
"We note striking similarities between the shark and ray statistics and recent estimates for plants: about 2 in 5 are threatened with extinction, and habitat loss and degradation present more immediate threats than climate change," said Dr. Eimear Nic Lughadha, a conservation scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Additionally, the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, is now considered endangered due to a significant habitat loss from ongoing human activities and climate change, IUCN reported.
"The idea that these prehistoric animals have moved one step closer to extinction due in part to climate change is terrifying -- and a further clarion call for nature to be placed at the heart of all decision making on the eve of the COP26 in Glasgow," said Dr. Andrew Terry, conservation director at the Zoological Society of London.
COP26, a United Nations climate change conference, will take place in November. Alok Sharma, the president of COP26, has previously said he wants the climate talks this year to reach agreement on a number of key targets, including putting an end date on the use of coal, a commitment to make all new car sales zero emissions within the next 14 to 19 years, stopping deforestation by the end of the decade and greater reductions of methane emissions.
There is reason for hope for at-risk species: Of the seven most commercially fished tuna species that were reassessed, four of them are showing signs that they're starting to recover after countries enforced more sustainable fishing quotas and are successfully combating illegal fishing, IUCN said.
The four tuna species include the Atlantic bluefin tuna, which moved from "endangered" to "least concern," the Southern bluefin tuna, which moved from "critically endangered" to "endangered," the albacore and yellowfin tuna, both of which moved from "near threatened" to "least concern."
"These Red List assessments are proof that sustainable fisheries approaches work, with enormous long-term benefits for livelihoods and biodiversity. We need to continue enforcing sustainable fishing quotas and cracking down on illegal fishing," said Bruce B. Collette, chair of the IUCN SSC Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group.
"Tuna species migrate across thousands of kilometres, so coordinating their management globally is also key," Collette said.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.