MELISSA SHAW (read by Daryn Caister): Environment Canada plans to cut their ozone layer monitoring network according to the British science journal Nature. The journal reports that scientists and research institutes have been informally told that the monitoring program will be closed as early as this winter, ending a 45 year history of ozone layer measurement data. Scientists are told that the closing of the program is a result of the Harper governments cutbacks at Environment Canada where hundreds of jobs are being eliminated.

The Canadian ozone network includes 17 monitoring stations from Sable Island Nova Scotia to Alert in the Arctic. Scientific balloons are released from 11 of the stations every week and collects one third of all the data used to monitor the Arctic ozone layer. This spring the Arctic developed a hole in the ozone layer over the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists have also learned that Environment Canada will no longer maintain the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre which is a data archive in Toronto used by researchers worldwide. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW (read by Daryn Caister): Tropical Storm Maria is proposed to hit Atlantic Canada on September 16th bringing heavy wind and rains. The eastern side of Newfoundland is expected to be hit the hardest by the storm and the province could see 80 to 90 millimetres of rain which emergency officials say could increase the risk of flooding and bring down trees and power lines.

Scientists predict that Maria will not cause as much damage as hurricane Igor did a year before. Igor brought 200 millimetres of rain to the province and 140 kilometre per hour winds. Igor resulted in one death and 200 million in damages. On Wednesday September 14th the Canadian Hurricane Centre reported that Maria was 900 kilometres south-southwest of Bermuda and its winds had reached 90 kilometres per hour. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW (read by Daryn Caister): The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition cloned the Environment Canada website and posted false information about a new climate change initiative on Wednesday September 14. A fake press release was also sent to media outlets about the re-release of a climate education pamphlet from two decades before that is aimed at students entitled ‘What a difference a degree makes.’ A fake follow up message was then sent from the environment minister Peter Kent saying that the pamphlet was outdated and no longer reflects government priorities.

The Council of Canadians released a statement congratulating the government and stated that “proper climate-change education in Canadian schools has previously been neglected by our government.” The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition then claimed responsibility for the hoax and the Council of Canadians admitted to supporting these youth and knowing it was a hoax from the beginning.

Kent’s spokeswoman Melissa Lantsman said “We condemn this blatant dishonesty and shameful misrepresentation of the Minister to Canadians.” Criminal Lawyer Bruce Engel warns that the Coalition could face legal action but he also said “You don’t go to jail for something like that. They would likely give these kids a little bit of a slap on the wrist.” [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Daryn Caister): A key federal report released in the U.S. this Wednesday places the blame for last year’s Gulf Oil Spill squarely on poor management decisions made by BP. Similar findings came out of previous investigations by Congress and the President’s independent oil spill commission. However, this week’s report is likely to carry more weight when it comes to affecting legislation and improving drilling regulations. The report—conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard in tandem with the agency that regulates offshore drilling—is the most exhaustive analysis of the disaster to date.

Congress has not passed a single piece of legislation to address the safety gaps highlighted by the spill. Republican lawmakers in particular have said they are unwilling to adopt reforms until the federal investigation was complete. Now that the Coast Guard has released its recommendations, Congress will have no reason to delay putting stronger regulations in place. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Daryn Caister): Former US Vice President Al Gore kicked off his latest global warming awareness project this week with ‘The Climate Reality Project’. The campaign aimed to combat climate change denial with 24 straight hours of presentations around the globe. A talk on climate change took place in each time zone starting on Wednesday evening in Mexico City and ending on Thursday night in New York.

The lectures focused in large part on the link between extreme weather conditions – such as the recent forest fires in Texas and flooding in Australia – and global warming. Gore, who delivered the concluding talk in New York, says he hopes the event will mark “the beginning of a new era of activism” and force people to face the full truth, scale, and impact of the climate crisis. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Daryn Caister): The Bonn Challenge, a plan to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested lands by 2020, was launched in Germany last week. Former Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson will lead the global reforestation effort as head of the newly established Global Restoration Council. The Council will work to generate support and coordinate the action needed to achieve the ambitious restoration target. Their pitch will focus on both the economic and environmental benefits of reforestation.

Recent analysis by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that restoring 150 million hectares of forest would be worth a total of $85 billion US per year to national and global economies. On an environmental front, working to reverse deforestation is a key issue. Tropical deforestation currently accounts for between 15 and 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In part, the Global Restoration Council will encourage reforestation through a financial incentive mechanism initiated by the UN and funded by the international community. [ index ]