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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
The United Nations declared 2025 to be the “International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation,” but the year also came to a close as one of the warmest on record. Today, we’re looking back at the year in glaciers and how it is affecting Canada.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Test your knowledge: The Globe’s 2025 science quiz is as lit as these nebulas, but closer to home
- Policy: Ottawa’s biofuels subsidies come into force as country tries to stay competitive with U.S.
- Nuclear: The West is spending big on nuclear plants again – and taking taxpayers along for the ride
- Floods: Flooding in Haida Gwaii cuts more than 2,000 residents off from the rest of the island
- Agriculture: For California farmers, the agave plant is a source of hope in parched times
- Weather: Ottawa’s Rideau Canal Skateway opens early
A deeper dive
Helicopters rescued more than 60 hikers from Bugaboo Provincial Park after a glacial ice dam burst triggered a flash flood, destroying their only route out of the southeastern B.C. mountains. Aug. 17, 2025.Jordy Shepherd/ Columbia Valley SAR
A bad year for glaciers in Western Canada
For this week’s deeper dive, a closer look at shrinking glaciers in the rearview, and what 2026 is expected to bring.
In 2025, glaciologists charted one of the worst years on record for shrinking glaciers in Western Canada, with an estimated 2.5 metres of water loss over the surface. That’s about 30 gigatonnes of mass washed away, writes Justine Hunter from Victoria, B.C.
It was the second worst year after 2023, said Brian Menounos, a professor of Earth sciences at the University of Northern B.C.
He was part of a research team that studied glacier mass in Western Canada, the United States and Switzerland from 2021 to 2024. “We are not preserving glaciers. In fact, we’re accelerating the loss,” he told Justine.
Western Canada is home to more than 18,000 individual glaciers, which are an integral part of aquatic ecosystems for both marine life and human communities. Glacier loss contributes to droughts, which are threatening fresh water supply in communities from Merritt, B.C. to Cowley, Alta.
It is reshaping the landscape too. More than 60 hikers and climbers had to be rescued by helicopter from Bugaboo Provincial Park in August, after the glacial ice dam that used to hold a lake gave way, creating a flash flood that destroyed their only path out of the B.C. mountains.
The government has hired a geotechnical consultant to assess the flood in southeastern B.C. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs is calling for greater supports, as the risk of geohazards and the potential disruption of aquatic ecosystems are keenly felt in Indigenous communities.
Scientists have warned that mountain glaciers around the world are on track to lose half of their mass by the year 2100, threatening a critical water resource for nearly two-billion people around the globe.
What else you missed
- Boil-water advisories lifted for Calgary neighbourhoods near major water main break
- Prize bluefin tuna sells for record $3.2-million at Tokyo fish market auction
Opinion and analysis
In 2026, we don’t need to choose between the environment and economic prosperity
Here’s to a 2026 where clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities ground all our efforts to create economic and social prosperity.
— Tim Gray is the executive director at Environmental Defence
When Artemis II returns to Earth, Jeremy Hansen should bring back moon trees
When someone plants a tree, it is an intergenerational act. Rooted to the Earth yet reaching to the sky, moon trees can remind us of commitments to each other, as well as to the Earth and moon.
— Aaron Boley is the co-author of Who Owns Outer Space: International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space.
Photo of the week
Dan Fox, or Omahksipiita – his Blackfoot name meaning Big Eagle – poses for a portrait at his home where he operates the Wolfcrow Bison Ranch with his family.LEAH HENNEL/The Globe and Mail
A year after The Globe launched a photo project dedicated to telling the stories of our massive, varied nation, we asked photographers to look back on their favourite images.
Leah Hennel reported on a bison ranch in Alberta. She says that meeting Dan Fox – a Blackfoot member of the Kainai First Nations Blood Reserve, who operates the Wolfcrow Bison Ranch – and attending his family’s annual bison harvest on the grasslands of southern Alberta was a powerful experience. “Seeing the respect for the environment and the animals, while honouring Indigenous tradition, was unforgettable,” she said.
Guides and Explainers
- Want to learn to invest sustainably? We have a class for that: the Green Investing 101 newsletter course for the climate-conscious investor. Not sure you need help? Take our quiz to challenge your knowledge.
- We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about what a carbon tax is, what happened at COP29 and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
- We have ways to make your travelling more sustainable and if you like to read, here are books to help the environmentalist in you grow, as well as a downloadable e-book of Micro Skills - Little Steps to Big Change.
Catch up on Globe Climate
- Canada’s Coast Guard put to the test
- Arctic warmth, political chill
- Lessons on flooding
- Our year of whale-watching
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