As the urban centre at the heart of Canada’s oilsands industry, Fort McMurray has seen more than its share of ups and downs. A decade and a half ago, the northern Alberta community was this country’s most famous boom town. High oil prices helped to drive unprecedented demand for the thick, viscous bitumen that lies … Read more
Canada’s record-setting wildfire season hiked the country up global pollution rankings — and for the first time made its air quality worse than the U.S., according to a new report by air quality technology company IQAir. “In previous years, Canada had the cleanest air quality in all of North America,” said Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of … Read more
The recent decision by SaltWire Network Inc., Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper company, to seek protection from its creditors is another sign of the decline of the business and the growing threat to local journalism, experts said Tuesday. “We’re seeing a resurgence in a steady spate of closings and scaling back of local news operations,” said … Read more
A main organizer of the “Freedom Convoy” is suing the federal government for using the Emergencies Act to freeze his bank accounts, arguing it breached his Charter rights to protest COVID-19 mandates. Chris Barber, who owns a trucking company in southwestern Saskatchewan, filed last week a statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench in … Read more
NASA’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit Thursday to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. SpaceX launched the Pace satellite on its $948-million US mission before dawn from Cape Canaveral, Fla., with the Falcon rocket heading south over the Atlantic Ocean to achieve a rare polar orbit. The satellite will spend at … Read more
The world just experienced its hottest January on record, continuing a run of exceptional heat fuelled by climate change, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. Last month surpassed the previous warmest January, which occurred in 2020, in C3S’s records going back to 1950. The exceptional month came after 2023 ranked … Read more
The 2023 Emmy Awards are arriving in 2024. Hollywood’s two strikes meant a four-month delay for television’s annual celebration of itself — the awards were originally slated for last September. But both strikes have now been resolved and the show will go on. The event will be held Monday night at the Peacock Theater in Los … Read more
After a year of record-breaking wildfires across Canada and the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, it likely comes as no surprise that 2023 was the hottest year on record. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2023 was 1.48 C warmer than the pre-industrial average from 1850–1900, beating out 2016’s record … Read more
Thirty years ago, an 11-day space shuttle mission involving seven veteran astronauts performed the first servicing mission to correct the Hubble Space Telescope’s blurred vision. The unprecedented flight involved five spacewalks and would not have been possible without the assistance of the shuttle’s robotic Canadarm. The multi-billion dollar Hubble Space Telescope was a crown jewel … Read more
