Environment – Winnipeg Free Press

This handout photo shows volunteers Brenda deRoos, left to right, and Bob deRoos helping Tyra Bain (Manager of the Whale Interpretive Centre) raise a pygmy sperm whale skeleton, in Telegraph Cove, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Whale Interpretive Centre (Mandatory Credit)

Northern lights inspire recovery in Telegraph Cove, B.C., year after devastating fire

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 3:00 AM CST

Mary Borrowman says she'll never forget the moment she and her husband, Jim, watched the northern lights shimmer across the sky on the morning of Jan. 1, 2025, from their home in Telegraph Cove, B.C.

"When we looked out our window, and we looked over the water, everywhere you could see in the sky were the most beautiful dancing red and green, and purple northern lights that we have ever seen," said Borrowman.

A day earlier, a massive New Year's Eve fire in the quaint tourist resort on northeastern Vancouver Island had destroyed the Whale Interpretive Centre that she and her husband founded, the local pub and restaurant and the office of the Prince of Whales whale-watching firm.

"I said to Jim, if that's not a sign from above that we're meant to carry on, then I don't know what is," said Borrowman, 73, recalling the aurora flickering above.

Advertise With Us

Weather

Jan. 1, 12 PM: -17°c Cloudy Jan. 1, 6 PM: -20°c Cloudy

Winnipeg MB

-18°C, Snow

Full Forecast

Seabirds that look like pint-sized penguins blown ashore in Newfoundland after storms

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Seabirds that look like pint-sized penguins blown ashore in Newfoundland after storms

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 1:57 PM CST

ST. JOHN'S - Scores of tiny seabirds that look like pint-sized penguins have been blown ashore by back-to-back storms in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dovekies are part of the auk family and live in the cold ocean waters, typically migrating from the Arctic to the North Atlantic Ocean around Newfoundland and Labrador.

But residents have been surprised to find dovekies on local wharfs, front lawns and even on highways, according to social media posts over the past few days.

Karen Brown-Gosse with The Rock Wildlife Rescue said she has never seen so many reports at once about wayward dovekies. Her group near St. John's has received at least 50 calls about them in the past few weeks, she said.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 1:57 PM CST

Devin Roberts is shown holding a dovekie found next to an arena in Triton, N.L., in a Dec. 28, 2025, handout photo. The bird was later released safely into the ocean. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Danielle Thomas (Mandatory Credit)

From small farms to your cup: What it takes to make that one cup of fresh coffee

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

From small farms to your cup: What it takes to make that one cup of fresh coffee

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

OAKVILLE - As a stream of roasted coffee beans drops into a barrel, it fills an Oakville, Ont., roastery with a smell practically strong enough to caffeinate you.

The roasted beans, now a rich, deep brown, were once small and green, bagged in large burlap sacks and shipped to Canadian ports from the coffee-producing countries of Ethiopia, Colombia and Brazil.

It's at Reunion Coffee Roasters where they find their defining character. The strength of your brew and whether it will taste fruity or earthy is methodically decided at the roastery's lab, where they sample various beans and perfect the taste.

Walking through his roughly 50,000 sq. ft. roastery, Reunion president Adam Pesce points out industry-scale machines where the green beans are washed, weighed and roasted to get the preferred colour, flavour and aroma.

Read

Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

Reunion Coffee Roasters President Adam Pesce tours his coffee roasting plant in Oakville, Ont., on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

California drivers warned to reconsider Christmas travel plans ahead of storms

Trân Nguyễn, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

California drivers warned to reconsider Christmas travel plans ahead of storms

Trân Nguyễn, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

California officials and weather forecasters urged holiday travelers to avoid the roads on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ahead of a series of powerful winter storms that threatened to slam the state with relentless rains, heavy winds and mountain snow through Friday.

Millions of people are expected to travel across the state. They will likely meet hazardous, if not impossible, traveling conditions as several atmospheric rivers were forecast to make their way through the state, the National Weather Service warned.

“If you’re planning to be on the roads for the Christmas holidays, please reconsider your plans,” said Ariel Cohen, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows in areas burned by last January's wildfires. Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday they were knocking on the doors of some 380 particularly vulnerable households to order them to leave.

Read

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

A car drives down a flooded road following heavy rains, on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Redding, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

2025 was one of three hottest years on record, scientists say

Alexa St. John, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

2025 was one of three hottest years on record, scientists say

Alexa St. John, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

Climate change worsened by human behavior made 2025 one of the three hottest years on record, scientists said.

It was also the first time that the three-year temperature average broke through the threshold set in the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times. Experts say that keeping the Earth below that limit could save lives and prevent catastrophic environmental destruction around the globe.

The analysis from World Weather Attribution researchers, released Tuesday in Europe, came after a year when people around the world were slammed by the dangerous extremes brought on by a warming planet.

Temperatures remained high despite the presence of a La Nina, the occasional natural cooling of Pacific Ocean waters that influences weather worldwide. Researchers cited the continued burning of fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal — that send planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Read

Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

FILE - Grace Chyuwei pours water on Joe Chyuwei to help with the heat Aug. 3, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Greece and Cyprus are welcoming 2026 without the bang

Menelaos Hadjicostis And Derek Gatopoulos, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Greece and Cyprus are welcoming 2026 without the bang

Menelaos Hadjicostis And Derek Gatopoulos, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 2:27 AM CST

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece and Cyprus are starting 2026 by turning down the volume.

The countries' capital cities, Athens and Nicosia, have traded the familiar whizz, crackle and boom of window‑rattling fireworks for spectacle without the shock wave, opting for low‑noise pyrotechnics, light shows and drone displays.

The shift aims to make New Year celebrations more child‑ and pet‑friendly — especially for animals with more sensitive hearing — in a break from the loud, combustible traditions of the past.

A shift toward calm

Read

Updated: 2:27 AM CST

Fireworks burst over the capital Nicosia during the New Year's celebrations in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, early Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

New 2026 laws are among the first of their kind to tackle climate change, drunken driving

David A. Lieb, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

New 2026 laws are among the first of their kind to tackle climate change, drunken driving

David A. Lieb, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

Tourists celebrating the new year in Hawaii could become the first to be taxed to address the consequences of climate change.

In Utah, people who party too heartily — and get caught driving drunk — could be among the first to have their driver's licenses striped red with the label: “No Alcohol Sale.”

And motorists in Georgia could become the first to display their patriotism via the stylings of President Donald Trump with a special “America First” vehicle license plate.

The first of the year brings with it a variety of new state laws, including some that appear to contain first-of-their-kind policies, programs or procedures.

Read

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

FILE - People are seen on the beach and in the water in front of the Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honolulu, Nov. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)

Learn more about Advertising solutions

Calgary man charged after ‘multiple’ alleged animal abuse incidents this past year

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Calgary man charged after ‘multiple’ alleged animal abuse incidents this past year

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025

CALGARY - Police in Calgary say a 41-year-old man has been charged with animal abuse for allegedly kicking and striking his dog, and later breaking a court order to take the animal back from the Calgary Humane Society.

Police say transit officers saw a man "striking and kicking his dog" on video surveillance at a CTrain station back in July, but the man was not found or identified at the time.

The Calgary Police Service says the same man was allegedly seen on train station surveillance cameras abusing his dog on Dec. 9, and transit officers detained him, seized the animal, and it was given over to the Calgary Humane Society.

The service says in a statement that the dog was forfeited after the man failed to meet the conditions for its return, and a week later, he allegedly attended the Calgary Humane Society and "stole the dog" from a volunteer dog walker.

Read

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025

The Calgary Humane Society and the Calgary Police Service jointly investigated multiple alleged incidents of animal abuse involving a dog owner, leading to charges against a 41-year-old man due in court in January. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Neil Frank, former hurricane center chief who improved public outreach on storms, has died

Caleigh Wells, The Associated Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025

Neil Frank, a former head of the National Hurricane Center credited with increasing the country's readiness for major storms, died Wednesday. He was 94.

Frank led the hurricane center from 1974 to 1987, the longest-serving director in its history.

“He gets tremendous credit for the being the first one to go out of his way and reach out and make the connection between the National Hurricane Center and the emergency managers,” said meteorologist Max Mayfield, who served as the hurricane center's director from 2000-2007.

“He taught me that it’s not all about the forecast,” Mayfield said. “A perfect forecast is no good if people don’t take immediate action.”

Cold War bomb shelter in Nova Scotia being converted into high-end doomsday condos

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Cold War bomb shelter in Nova Scotia being converted into high-end doomsday condos

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

DEBERT - A former Cold War fallout shelter in rural Nova Scotia is being transformed into luxury condominiums for elite clients seeking refuge from global crises.

Project co-owner Paul Mansfield says renovation of the two-storey, underground bunker started less than a year ago, but the project has already attracted attention from several well-heeled buyers. The price range for the 50 condos is a secret — unless the vetting process determines you can afford one.

“To be honest, the bunker business is booming globally,” the Halifax-based entrepreneur said during a recent interview inside the slightly creepy, 64,000-square-foot concrete structure built in 1964.

"The climate is a big concern and …. there's been more conflicts in the last few years than there has been in the last 25 years," Mansfield says in a windowless room as the bunker’s ventilation systems hum in the background.

Read

Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

A rendering from the sales brochure for The Diefenbaker, a luxury condo development being built inside a Cold War-era nuclear fallout shelter in rural Nova Scotia, is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - The Diefenbaker (Mandatory Credit)

Arctic blast brings snow and wind to the Great Lakes and Northeast

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Arctic blast brings snow and wind to the Great Lakes and Northeast

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

A surge of Arctic air brought strong winds, heavy snow and frigid temperatures to the Great Lakes and Northeast on Tuesday, a day after a bomb cyclone barreling across the Midwest left tens of thousands of customers without power.

Blustery winds were expected to add to the chill, with low temperatures dipping below freezing as far south as the Florida panhandle, the National Weather Service said.

The wild storm hit parts of the Plains and Great Lakes this week with sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain, leading to treacherous travel. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops.

Kristen Schultz, who was heading home to Alaska, said it took her four hours to get to the Minneapolis airport on Tuesday.

Read

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

Snow is cleared from a parking lot in Grandville, Mich. on Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (Joel Bissell /MLive.com via AP)

French actor Brigitte Bardot remembered in Canada for fighting seal hunt

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

French actor Brigitte Bardot remembered in Canada for fighting seal hunt

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

Brigitte Bardot, a French actor and animal rights activist who died Sunday at the age of 91, is being remembered in Canada as a vocal opponent of the country's seal hunt.

Bardot, known as one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century, was the first high-profile celebrity to speak out against Canada's seal hunt in 1976.

The following year, she travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador to witness it herself. Asked by reporters what her plans were for the trip, Bardot replied, "To save baby seals, that's all."

During that trip, she was photographed holding a baby harp seal, known as a whitecoat. The CBC reported her protest caused a major reduction in the price of seal pelts, affecting the livelihoods of people in fishing communities in Atlantic Canada and in the Arctic.

Read

Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

French actor Brigitte Bardot and head of the

Hungary’s ‘water guardian’ farmers fight back against desertification

Justin Spike, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Hungary’s ‘water guardian’ farmers fight back against desertification

Justin Spike, The Associated Press 6 minute read Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

KISKUNMAJSA, Hungary (AP) — Oszkár Nagyapáti climbed to the bottom of a sandy pit on his land on the Great Hungarian Plain and dug into the soil with his hand, looking for a sign of groundwater that in recent years has been in accelerating retreat.

“It’s much worse, and it’s getting worse year after year,” he said as cloudy liquid slowly seeped into the hole. ”Where did so much water go? It’s unbelievable.”

Nagyapáti has watched with distress as the region in southern Hungary, once an important site for agriculture, has become increasingly parched and dry. Where a variety of crops and grasses once filled the fields, today there are wide cracks in the soil and growing sand dunes more reminiscent of the Sahara Desert than Central Europe.

Semiarid region

Read

Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

Oszkár Nagyapáti, farmer and member of the volunteer water guardians, stands in a hole in Kiskunmajsa, Hungary, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Highway in B.C. reopens after atmospheric rivers washed out sections

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Highway in B.C. reopens after atmospheric rivers washed out sections

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

VANCOUVER - A portion of a British Columbia highway linking the Lower Mainland to Alberta that's been closed since atmospheric rivers washed away sections of the road earlier this month has reopened.

The province announced late on Christmas Eve that Highway 3 is now open to traffic between Hope and Princeton following a major washout on Dec. 16, 42 kilometres east of the Highway 3 and 5 junction.

Traffic will be single-lane alternating on a temporary detour, with a reduced speed limit of 30 km/h., and the province advises commercial vehicles continue to use an alternative route until two-lane traffic is restored.

Drivers heading west on Highway 3 towards Hope will be held approximately 500 metres east of the site to avoid lineups in an avalanche risk area where stopping is prohibited.

Read

Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

British Columbia's provincial flag flies in Ottawa, July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

How bomb cyclones form and create dangerous conditions

Isabella O'malley, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

How bomb cyclones form and create dangerous conditions

Isabella O'malley, The Associated Press 2 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

When turbulent weather with whipping winds and heavy snow is in the forecast, meteorologists sometimes warn that a storm could “bomb out” or become a bomb cyclone. But what exactly does this mean?

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, certain storms undergo bombogenesis, which happens when a storm’s central pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. These storms are sometimes called bomb cyclones. Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, so the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.

Such rapidly strengthening storms are capable of producing heavy rain, blizzard conditions and intense winds that can create dangerous conditions such as downed trees and power outages.

“If you’re watching TV at night and the weather report comes on and you’re hearing ‘bomb cyclone’ being used, that usually means there’s quite a bit of active weather going on,” said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

Read

Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

A man crosses 7th street in the heavy snow Sunday Dec. 28, 2025 in downtown Minneapolis. (Jerry Holt /Star Tribune via AP)

Freezing rain on the way for Maritimes as Newfoundland and Labrador digs out

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Freezing rain on the way for Maritimes as Newfoundland and Labrador digs out

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

HALIFAX - Freezing rain warnings were piling up throughout the Maritimes and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday, but meteorologists say climbing temperatures likely mean a big dose of rain is on tap for the region.

Environment Canada meteorologist Ian Hubbard says Atlantic Canada is in the path of the same system that brought freezing rain to the Great Lakes region and parts of Quebec, but the impacts won’t be as severe.

“We're kind of on the far-eastern side of this,” Hubbard said in an interview Monday.

“It's going to allow us to get into some of that warmer air so the freezing rain will change to rain. And we're actually going to see some mild temperatures during the overnight period with this before it pushes through.”

Read

Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

January 1, 2026

Notification Settings

Breaking News

Recommended Reads