CBCNEWS — CBC Newsroom With Marianne Dimain
20260920 103000 UTC
182 transcript segments
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[00:00:03] sent a buzz around the world. It was a surprise because it
[00:00:06] was the only country in the world that was mosquito free.
[00:00:10] But the story isn't really about Iceland,
[00:00:12] it's about what it means for Canada. Canadian scientists are
[00:00:15] already modeling what our mosquito future might look like
[00:00:19] as the climate warms. There are roughly 80 different mosquito
[00:00:22] species in Canada. Some have been here for centuries and
[00:00:25] others are newcomers chasing the heat.
[00:00:27] But Canada's north is warming four times faster than the rest
[00:00:31] of the world, meaning some parts of the
[00:00:34] country are entering into the perfect breeding temperature
[00:00:38] range for mosquitoes. And many of the newcomers carry disease.
[00:00:42] It is Kulick PNS, which is the vector for West
[00:00:45] Nile virus, so it has spread geographically
[00:00:47] from the east of Canada all the way out to the West,
[00:00:51] most recently seeing it in Edmonton and in Calgary in 2022.
[00:00:54] These are, this is a species of mosquito
[00:00:57] that we have never seen previously
[00:00:59] in these parts of Canada. A species once limited by cold is
[00:01:03] now surviving coast to coast to coast. So you probably are
[00:01:07] aware that this is a mosquito that transmit diseases such as
[00:01:11] dengue, chikungunya virus and Zika
[00:01:14] virus. We've not only detected these mosquitoes in adult
[00:01:18] stages, but we've also detected them as
[00:01:20] larvae and its eggs. So knowing that they now have their full
[00:01:25] life cycles in Canada is, I guess some evidence that
[00:01:28] these mosquito populations
[00:01:30] have established. And so yes, the risk for increased mosquito
[00:01:33] borne disease is real, which means keeping track of
[00:01:36] these little suckers makes sense. But Canada doesn't have
[00:01:40] a national mosquito surveillance program. Each
[00:01:42] province runs its own, leaving gaps in the regions
[00:01:45] changing the fastest. But it's not all bad news. Citizens
[00:01:48] Science may be one of our best tools to track and make plans
[00:01:52] for this future. In fact, the first citizen science
[00:01:55] mosquito project led by the University of Windsor just
[00:01:58] wrapped up its inaugural season. The more we tracked them,
[00:02:01] the better chance we have to stay one step ahead.
[00:06:27] So what changes can we make, and what changes will we be
[00:06:29] forced to make as we adapt? Shifting our diets could be key.
[00:06:33] What we eat and what we grow will change as we face warmer
[00:06:37] temperatures, attempt to feed more people and
[00:06:39] try to cut down on emissions.
[00:06:44] In a screenhouse at the Kentfield Research and
[00:06:48] Development Centre, Beatrice Amiot is surrounded by
[00:06:51] strawberry plants. To most people,
[00:06:54] they probably look similar, but a closer look shows there's
[00:06:58] lots of variety, 160 varieties to be exact.
[00:07:01] There are tall and short plants, large and small leaves and
[00:07:06] different hues of green. Amiot is part of a team across Canada
[00:07:10] searching for varieties that can cope with our changing
[00:07:14] climate. Something that can withstand A drier year of colder year,
[00:07:18] a wetter year, and still have good
[00:07:20] productivity under all those conditions is more likely to be
[00:07:24] resilient to climate change.
[00:07:25] Amyot and researchers in other parts of Canada will plant some
[00:07:30] of these strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and
[00:07:34] then share data on how they fare. Growing conditions will
[00:07:38] be a key part of that data. How well they thrive in drought,
[00:07:42] heat, excessive rain, or whatever else nature throws
[00:07:45] their way. So, for example, drought is what we've
[00:07:49] encountered here of Nova Scotia. Other parts of Canada have
[00:07:52] experienced heat Dome conditions and winter freeze
[00:07:55] snaps that have been really detrimental to Berry crops. So
[00:07:58] those extreme conditions are something that some species and
[00:08:02] some varieties within species are more tolerant to than
[00:08:05] others.
[00:08:07] Phillip Caddy knows that unpredictability all too well.
[00:08:10] At his farm in Lakeville, he produces strawberry plants
[00:08:14] to sell to growers in the US and Canada.
[00:08:17] We've been for the last 10 years starting to see the
[00:08:21] effects of climate change. We've had some of the wettest
[00:08:24] years, some of the driest years, colder temperatures in the
[00:08:28] winter, just drastic fluctuation in
[00:08:31] temperatures and and moisture. Caddy works with the Kentfield
[00:08:34] Research Centre to field test their varieties. It's up to him
[00:08:38] to find the right ones to send to his customers. And what
[00:08:42] works for one customer in Florida may not work for
[00:08:46] another in Saskatchewan with its harsh winters.
[00:08:49] Back at the research station, the final product, the berries,
[00:08:53] are also put under a microscope to evaluate properties like
[00:08:58] colour, gloss and firmness. But the
[00:09:01] process of developing the perfect varieties and the
[00:09:04] perfect berries isn't fast. Amyot says it can take 10 to 15
[00:09:09] years to bring a new strawberry variety to the commercial
[00:09:13] market, and even more for other berries.
[00:09:16] Frances Willick, CBC News, Kentville.
[00:17:40] How possible is it to cut down our CO2 emissions and what are
[00:17:43] the alternatives? Let's take a look at the
[00:17:45] problem and some potential solutions.
[00:17:49] The end of fossil fuels in the near future? Well,
[00:17:51] that's either wildly optimistic or completely unrealistic,
[00:17:55] depending on who you ask. But climate science has a very
[00:17:58] specific answer to this question. Not what we hope for
[00:18:01] or what governments promise, but what the physics actually
[00:18:05] allows. Let's get into it. OK, reality check. First of all,
[00:18:08] when climate scientists talk about the near future,
[00:18:12] they're almost never talking about 0 fossil fuels. They're
[00:18:15] talking about net zero, a world where the carbon we
[00:18:18] emit is balanced by the carbon we remove. More on that in a
[00:18:22] moment. What the IPCC models look at. That's the latest
[00:18:25] agreed upon research from climate scientists around the
[00:18:28] world. Is net 0 emissions a reality where the world
[00:18:31] theoretically has time to adapt? So why are we trying to stop
[00:18:34] the burning of fossil fuels anyway? Or remember,
[00:18:37] fossil fuels are the main driving force behind rising
[00:18:40] temperatures that threaten to push ecosystems past a point of
[00:18:44] no return, irreversible damage. Climate
[00:18:46] science has found that range to be between 1.5 and two degrees
[00:18:50] of warming. To me,
[00:18:52] what I find most, you know, most important
[00:18:56] is to understand just how much every fraction of a degree
[00:19:00] matters. So how completely do we need to move away from
[00:19:03] fossil fuels? The good news is that in every
[00:19:06] IPCC scenario that limits warming to that tolerable level,
[00:19:09] fossil fuels don't vanish completely. But fossil fuel use
[00:19:13] should be peaking now or have already peaked. That's right.
[00:19:16] We can't burn anymore than we're burning right now. We're
[00:19:20] at the Max. We already have more coal,
[00:19:22] oil and gas projects than we can afford to burn. Remember,
[00:19:25] this is from the perspective
[00:19:27] of climate science. There are other strongly held views
[00:19:31] rooted in economics and industry that have reasons to
[00:19:34] continue to extract fossil fuels. But according to the
[00:19:37] climate science, by mid century, only 24 years from now,
[00:19:41] global carbon dioxide emissions need to hit net zero. What
[00:19:44] we're talking about is reaching a balance where we're putting
[00:19:48] into, where what we're putting into
[00:19:50] the atmosphere equals what we're taking out. That's what
[00:19:54] will allow temperatures to stabilize,
[00:19:56] and carbon capture technology
[00:19:58] can pull carbon out of the air or bury it underground,
[00:20:01] technology that may also help us pull our temps back if we do
[00:20:05] overshoot our limits. Carbon capture probably warrants its
[00:20:09] own explainer video, so stay tuned. But the answer
[00:20:12] to the question will we ever be off fossil fuels is probably
[00:20:16] not entirely anytime soon. So how do we get to a
[00:20:19] scientifically acceptable level of fossil fuel use?
[00:20:22] The IPCC runs hundreds of computer model futures,
[00:20:25] testing different ways the world could cut emissions,
[00:20:28] measuring how the climate responds. And in everyone where
[00:20:32] we hit our mark, it's not because of a single
[00:20:34] breakthrough technology, but because of scale. We're
[00:20:37] talking more wind, more solar, more electrification,
[00:20:40] and much less burning. Let's get specific about that last
[00:20:43] point. To stay below that critical threshold of warming,
[00:20:47] the science shows that roughly 80% of known coal reserves,
[00:20:50] about half of gas, and about 1/3 of oil must
[00:20:53] remain unburned. And there's a problem with that. When
[00:20:56] scientists compare existing fossil fuel infrastructure to
[00:20:59] the remaining carbon budget, well, the math doesn't math. The
[00:21:02] existing infrastructure indicates far more fossil fuel
[00:21:05] burning ahead. Add to that the fact that energy demand just
[00:21:09] keeps growing. I mean, none of this is easy. It means
[00:21:12] rebuilding energy systems faster than at any point in
[00:21:15] history. And yes, it likely means carbon capture
[00:21:17] technology will be needed. And despite the fact that the world
[00:21:21] has already invested some $2 trillion in renewable energy,
[00:21:24] there will be political and economic ramifications of
[00:21:27] suggesting we leave $6 trillion worth of business in the ground.
[00:21:31] Climate change has a direct cost on our economies,
[00:21:35] so it's not the difference between taking action and not
[00:21:39] taking action. It is actually also the difference between the
[00:21:44] damages that climate change will cause.
[00:21:48] So here's the uncomfortable conclusion. The science says a
[00:21:52] net zero future soon is not only necessary,
[00:21:54] but doable. What it doesn't say is whether we as humans take
[00:21:58] that path or not.
[00:30:14] Thanks for joining us. You can find more news on
[00:30:16] climatechangeandthelateststorie smakingheadlines@cbcnews.ca.
[00:30:29] You're watching CBC News. I'm Steven Dsouza,
[00:30:31] Co host of The 5th Estate. Here's what's making news right
[00:30:35] now.
[00:30:37] CBC NEWSROOM. I'M DEANA SUMANAC-JOHNSON.
[00:30:39] I'M DEANA SUMANAC-JOHNSON. PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY'S IN
[00:30:41] PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY'S IN OTTAWA WHERE THE FINAL LIBERAL
[00:30:44] OTTAWA WHERE THE FINAL LIBERAL CAUCUS MEETINGS IS IN THE BOOKS CAUCUS MEETINGS IS IN THE BOOKS AHEAD OF M.P.s RETURNING TO
[00:30:47] AHEAD OF M.P.s RETURNING TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON MONDAY THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON MONDAY FOR THE FALL SITTING.
[00:30:50] FOR THE FALL SITTING. MARK CARNEY DIDN'T TAKE QUESTION MARK CARNEY DIDN'T TAKE QUESTION FROM REPORTERS AS HE ARRIVED
[00:30:53] FROM REPORTERS AS HE ARRIVED THIS MORNING. THIS MORNING. HE'S BACK FROM A BUSY WEEK THAT
[00:30:56] HE'S BACK FROM A BUSY WEEK THAT INCLUDED AN INVESTMENT SUMMIT IN INCLUDED AN INVESTMENT SUMMIT IN TORONTO, AND A SPEECH TO THE
[00:31:00] TORONTO, AND A SPEECH TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN FRANCE.