Environment + Energy – Views & Research

Two women on paddleboards with smoky haze obscuring the horizon

Wildfire smoke and extreme heat can occur together: Preparing for the combined health effects of a hot, smoky future

Stephanie Cleland, Simon Fraser University

An aerial view shows two oilsands facilities in an expansive landscape.

Alberta has long accused Ottawa of trying to destroy its oil industry. Here’s why that’s a dangerous myth

Ian Urquhart, University of Alberta

Carney aims to make Canada an energy superpower. Who will be sacrificed for that goal?

Leah Levac, University of Guelph; Jane Stinson, Carleton University, and Leah M. Fusco, Memorial University of Newfoundland

A motorboat pulling a tube on a pristine lake, leave a wake.

Boat wakes aren’t just a nuisance, they harm freshwater shorelines and wildlife

Chris Houser, University of Waterloo

Current legal frameworks can’t protect the oceans from deep-sea mining and the negative impacts on humankind

Susan Reid, University of British Columbia

Laudato Si’: A look back on Pope Francis’s environmental legacy

Donald Wright, University of New Brunswick

A large mural n a wall depicting a man in a white cassock wiping away smog emanating from smoke stacks to reveal a blue sky

Old growth forests in eastern Canada show that the climate started changing almost 100 years ago

Alexandre Pace, Concordia University

Using fire to produce nanoparticles could revolutionize various industries

Keroles Riad, Carleton University

Red shimmering energy particles, depicting the nanoparticles used to create nanotechnologies.

A group of people holding signs and flags walk along a highway with snowy mountains in the background.

Who really killed Canada’s carbon tax? Friends and foes alike

Ryan M. Katz-Rosene, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

a striking orange and black butterfly with its wings spread

Ambitious changes to Canadian conservation law are needed to reverse the decline in biodiversity

Trevor Swerdfager, University of Waterloo and Derek Armitage, University of Waterloo

Coal in Alberta: Neither public outrage nor waning global demand seem to matter to Danielle Smith

Ian Urquhart, University of Alberta

A sign on a grassy patch next to a road reads Mountains not Mines.

Canada’s federal election doesn’t seem like it’s about climate change, but it actually is

Mark Winfield, York University, Canada

A man in a turban speaks into a microphone with a Canadian flag behind him. A gleaming wooden floor is in the foreground and wooden beams are overhead.

Terminations at U.S. government agencies that monitor extreme weather events will have negative effects

Gordon McBean, Western University

Humanity depends on the ocean — Here is what we need to prioritize for immediate ocean science research

Brad deYoung, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Kristen St John, James Madison University ; Mona Behl, University of Georgia; Peter Girguis, Harvard University; Richard W Murray, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Stephen Palumbi, Stanford University

Canada-Ecuador free trade agreement threatens Indigenous rights and territories in the Amazon

Martina Jakubchik-Paloheimo, Queen's University, Ontario

Indigenous people from the Amazon protests in the streets. They carry a sign that says: 'Our territory is not for sale,' which is written in Waorani.

How political leaders communicate climate policy should be a defining factor this election

Andrew Heffernan, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Silhouette of a pumpjack draws out oil from a wellhead against a sunset sky

The TGL golf league might signal that indoor sport is the future in the era of climate change

Brad Millington, Brock University; Brian Wilson, University of British Columbia; Michael L. Naraine, Brock University, and Parissa Safai, York University, Canada

People on an indoor golf green surrounded by stands with an audience

The history of ‘common sense’ matters when caring for our common home

Barbara Leckie, Carleton University

Children walk to school as cars spewing exhaust are on the road next to them.

Replacing gas vehicles with electric cars could prevent new cases of childhood asthma

Harshit Gujral, University of Toronto; Meredith Franklin, University of Toronto, and Steve Easterbrook, University of Toronto

Imagining what the world could look like without fossil fuels spurs people to action

Michael T. Schmitt, Simon Fraser University and Annika E. Lutz, Simon Fraser University

people prepare plant boxes outside a building

AI is for the birds: How machine learning can help predict and manage avian flu outbreaks

Rozita Dara, University of Guelph

two signs on a gate one reading "Do Not Enter Biosecurity in Effect" and the second "Chicken Farmers of Canada"

A wide blue river with mountains and pine trees surrounding it.

Zombie water apocalypse: Is Trump’s rhetoric over Canada’s water science-fiction or reality?

Tricia Stadnyk, University of Calgary

Plant-based plastics could help reduce the millions of tonnes of medical waste hospitals generate each year

Elham Moshk Bid, University of Saskatchewan; Chris Zhang, University of Saskatchewan; Duncan Cree, McMaster University, and Lori Bradford, University of Saskatchewan

A collection of used, single-use medical plastic items — such as syringes, wipes, medicine containers and gloves.

Soaring U.S. egg prices and millions of dead chickens signal the deep problems and risks in modern poultry production

Tony Weis, Western University

A sign stating there is a limit of 3 cartons of eggs due to egg shortages. There are boxes of dozens of packaged eggs beneath the sign.

Email signatures are harming the planet and could cost people their lives — it’s time to stop using them

Joshua M. Pearce, Western University

A person seen from the shoulders down typing on a laptop

A cluster of orange _Mycena leaiana_ mushrooms growing from a dead log.

Fungi are among the planet’s most important organisms — yet they’re overlooked in conservation strategies

Jonathan Cazabonne, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and Danny Haelewaters, Czech Academy of Sciences

Youth are charting new freshwater futures by learning from the water on the water

Andrea Reid, University of British Columbia and Dalal Hanna, Carleton University

The smouldering remains of a residential block in Jasper, Alberta.

Wildfire season is changing in Canada — posing even greater risks to the nation’s communities and ecosystems

Hossein Bonakdari, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

The Canada Carbon Rebate is still widely misunderstood — here’s why

Ruolz Ariste, Carleton University

two polar bear cubs curl up with their mother

The secret lives of polar bear families

Louise Archer, University of Toronto

Investors value green labels — but not always for the right reasons

Vasundhara Saravade, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

A stock exchange screen with a green-tinted overlay

Alberta’s oil and gas wells threaten people’s health, but there are disparities in who is most at risk

Martin Lavoie, St. Francis Xavier University; David Risk, St. Francis Xavier University, and Matthew Rygus, St. Francis Xavier University

An oil well situated near a field, which farmers are using combines to harvest.

Big corporations are getting away with catastrophic air pollution – putting Canadians at risk

David R Boyd, University of British Columbia and Amanda Giang, University of British Columbia

Smoke plumes spew from the smokestacks of a chemical industry plant into the air.

A person skates across Lake Ontario during the sunset.

Climate change is threatening Lake Ontario — lessons from the Little Ice Age show us why we need to adapt

Daniel Macfarlane, Western Michigan University

Water-based batteries could be key in helping Canada achieve its net zero goals by 2050 — here’s how

Meysam Maleki, Concordia University

Large wind turbines spin in the wind. They're built in woodlands near rural homes.

We need meaningful, not less, EDI and climate action in turbulent times

Sarah E. Sharma, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Amy Janzwood, McGill University; Julie MacArthur, Royal Roads University, and Runa Das, Royal Roads University

People at a demonstration carry placards and homemade signs

Net-zero homes are touted as a solution for climate change, but they remain out of reach for most

Ehsan Noroozinejad Farsangi, University of British Columbia and T.Y. Yang, University of British Columbia

a house's roof covered with solar panels

People stand in a row carrying placards that read: drill baby drill

How Canada and the U.S. can still tackle climate change in a second Trump era

Andy Hira, Simon Fraser University and John J Clague, Simon Fraser University

Trump’s reversal of climate policies risks undermining U.S. manufacturing — and could cost people jobs

Thomas Stuart, University of Victoria

A pumpjack seen in a field with four windmills in the distance

The impact of Donald Trump’s anti-climate measures on our heating planet

Bruce Campbell, York University, Canada

A man with greyish blond hair speaks into a microphone in front of a large screen that reads Drill Baby Drill.

Climate change is fuelling Trump’s desire to tap into Canada’s water and Arctic resources

Tricia Stadnyk, University of Calgary

A polar bear is seen on an ice floe in a body of water strewn with ice.

A man in a t-shirt talks into a microphone in front of a crowd.

The carbon tax needs fixing, not axing — Canada needs a progressive carbon tax

Peter Dietsch, University of Victoria

An bird's eye view photo showing a coastal area with a town

Namibia’s Shark Island: Europe’s push for green hydrogen risks compromising sites of colonial genocide

Rosanna Carver, University of Victoria and Natache Iilonga, University of Victoria

Many Canadian households are being shortchanged from retrofit programs — this needs to change

Kareman Yassin, Hitotsubashi University; Maya Papineau, Carleton University, and Nicholas Rivers, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

A construction worker in a hard hat stands on the roof of a partially built house

The power of language: Rethinking food labels to expand our plant-based choices

Sadaf Mollaei, University of Guelph

As global leaders, Canada and Norway’s co-operation is timely in the face of surging energy demand

Ian H. Rowlands, University of Waterloo and Siddharth Sareen, Fridtjof Nansen Institute

A dark-haired man and a grey-haired man talk with vibrant green hills in the background.

A charging cord plugged into a blue electric car

Canada’s electric vehicle industry is facing existential threats — here’s how it can still flourish

Charles Conteh, Brock University and Tia Henstra, Brock University

5 ways to improve security governance and prevent future illegal mining tragedies from happening

Andrew Grant, Queen's University, Ontario; Benjamin Ofosu-Atuahene, Queen's University, Ontario, and Olusola Ogunnubi, Queen's University, Ontario

Two people lower a cage from a crane down into a vertical mine shaft

Prioritizing nuclear power and natural gas over renewable energy is a risky move for Ontario’s energy future

Norman W. Park, York University, Canada

Hydro towers are seen over a golf course

We hear about the health impact of climate-related events. But what about the health-care workers who respond to them?

Christopher Buse, Simon Fraser University; Sandra Smiley, University of British Columbia, and Tim K. Takaro, Simon Fraser University

An orange barrier across a divided highway surrounded by floodwaters

Lake beds are rich environmental records — studying them reveals much about a place’s history

Irene Gregory-Eaves, McGill University; Dermot Antoniades, Université Laval, and Hamid Ghanbari, Université Laval

With nuclear power on the rise, reducing conspiracies and increasing public education is key

Grant Alexander Wilson, University of Regina

Online algorithms could help save the planet with just a few small tweaks

Martin Gibert, Université de Montréal; Lê Nguyên Hoang, École polytechnique, and Maxime Lambrecht, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)

Loving the world could address the climate crisis and help us make sense of changes to come

Barbara Leckie, Carleton University

Sheep graze in a field in front of solar panels

‘Solar shepherds’ earn big by grazing sheep on solar farms — and they benefit everyone involved

Joshua M. Pearce, Western University

Global food production has resulted in significant biodiversity loss, new research shows

Kevin McCann, University of Guelph; Evan Fraser, University of Guelph, and Marie K. Gutgesell, University of Guelph

Aerial view of a combine harvested ploughing a wheat field

Better digital literacy could help reduce climate and disaster conspiracy theories

Sibo Chen, Toronto Metropolitan University and S. Harris Ali, York University, Canada

A red tower in front of a huge plume of smoke

Fertile land for growing vegetables is at risk — but a scientific discovery could turn the tide

Karolane Bourdon, Université Laval; Jacynthe Dessureault-Rompré, Université Laval; Jean Caron, Université Laval, and Josée Fortin, Université Laval

How Canadian cities could be leaders in the fight against waste

Juste Rajaonson, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

A person fills a display with fresh cobs of corn in a farmer's market

Farmers’ markets are a vital but overlooked part of fixing Canada’s struggling food system

Phoebe Stephens, Dalhousie University and Alyssa K Gerhardt, Dalhousie University

China is struggling to control its provinces as they expand distant-water fishing

Hang Zhou, Université Laval

How heat storage technologies could keep Canada’s roads and bridges ice-free all winter long

Mohammadamin Ahmadfard, Toronto Metropolitan University and Seth Dworkin, Toronto Metropolitan University