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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
A manatee was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade. The threatened species usually makes its habitat in warmer southern Gulf waters, so scientists want to monitor its condition to see if a rescue is necessary.
In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay – the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued.
Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Newfoundland wildfires: Officials will start notifying Conception Bay residents about destroyed homes. Evacuation alerts and a state of emergency were lifted near St. John’s as crews contain the wildfire.
- Nova Scotia wildfires: Officials say a wildfire in the western part of the province has grown and could force people out of their homes, fuelled by drought
- B.C. wildfires: Wildfire north of Nanaimo declared under control after Bamfield grappled with prolonged power outage from another wildfire.
- Prairie wildfires: Saskatchewan lifts fire ban as evacuees from some Manitoba communities return home
- Ontario wildfires: Wildfires were threatening the Kawartha Lakes area, a summer sanctuary
- International relations: U.S. Republicans demand that Canada deal with wildfires – but won’t acknowledge climate change
- Policy: Access restrictions on wooded areas in N.S., N.B., during heightened wildfire risk face opposition
- Ticks: N.B. professor aims to broaden tick research after battling Lyme disease
- Plastic: Failed plastics treaty talks leave no clear path to address growing global pollution problem
- World: Court cites climate change in blocking approval for Total and Shell project off South African coast
A deeper dive
Adam Skinner, founder of the Instant Weather app and the Ontario Storm Watch Facebook group (among others) poses for a portrait at Centennial Beach in Barrie, ON on July 29th 2025. Duane Cole/The Globe and MailDUANE COLE/The Globe and Mail
The perfect storm for anxiety
For this week’s deeper dive, we closer look at the online world of watching weather.
How often do you check your weather app? Or... weather apps?
Online culture reporter Samantha Edwards recently took a deep dive into the new big world of weather data. Once the domain of professionals, climate information gathered from satellites and radar models are now easily accessible online, giving amateur forecasters an unprecedented amount of raw data.
“I immersed myself into the digital world of weather nerds, amateur forecasters and content creators. I joined niche online forums, subreddits and Facebook groups, subscribed to YouTubers who livestream during extreme weather events, and followed weather influencers,” she wrote in the morning update newsletter.
With a plethora of new weather apps, we have access to real-time information that can help us better plan our lives and time outdoors – from where there will be heavy rain to extreme heat.
Weather forecaster Andrew Hagen works at his station at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, on May 30.CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images
On Reddit and niche online forums, weather nerds analyze and debate the output of forecasts. On YouTube and TikTok, “storm streamers” go live for hours during extreme weather events, providing real-time updates and sharing on-the-ground photos sent in from their devoted followers.
But the flood of data can also consume us, lead to misinformation and heighten climate anxiety while at the same time diluting important updates about flooding and wildfire threats.
For the past few summers, Aspen Murray has started to check a new data point every day on her weather app: air quality. “Getting accustomed to checking the air quality has been something that’s really made me think more about my climate anxiety,” she said. “Growing up, that’s something that I never would have thought of or worried about.”
Runners jog along Toronto’s waterfront as wildfire smoke rolls into the city on June 6.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
Experts also warn that the overexposure to weather warnings, especially if they’re poorly worded or not local, can lead to “alert fatigue” and may result in tuning out crucial information. Plus, during extreme weather events, disinformation from high-profile conspiracy theorists is drowning out emergency response efforts.
On Facebook, Samantha stumbled upon a group called Ontario Storm Reports, which was started by the former storm chaser Adam Skinner and now has tens of thousands of members. He says that the majority of people who post in the group, and also watch his livestreams during severe weather, have weather anxiety but find the knowledge more comforting.
“The unknown is much more scary,” he said.
What else you missed
- Rain triggers flash floods in India and Pakistan, killing more than 280
- Multiple parts of Europe face wildfires as millions grapple with record heat surpassing 40 degrees
- Caribbean hurricane Erin dumps flooding rains despite it not being expected to hit land
- Ancient whale with Pokémon-like face, killer bite discovered by scientists
Opinion and analysis
Sarah Goodman: Ottawa must prioritize climate tech in Canada’s new defence strategy
Stephen Maher: The people opposing Nova Scotia’s ban on accessing the woods don’t understand our culture
Julia Zarankin: To my surprise, I learned that birding can be an adrenaline-fuelled extreme sport
Green Investing
Conservatives plan national campaign to scrap zero-emission vehicle mandate
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged that his party will embark on a national campaign to push the Liberal government to scrap the policy he’s dubbed the “Carney tax.”
Poilievre led the charge as the Conservatives attacked the consumer carbon price over the last two years, which eventually played a role to end the so-called carbon tax earlier this year. Now the Conservative leader claims the Liberal EV mandates “would literally erase many small towns from the map.”
- Ottawa announces $25-million in funding for companies to build EV chargers, buy natural gas-powered trucks
The Climate Exchange
We’ve launched the The Climate Exchange, an interactive, digital hub where The Globe answers your most pressing questions about climate change. We have been collecting hundreds of questions and posing them to experts. The answers can be found with the help of a search tool developed by The Globe that makes use of artificial intelligence to match readers’ questions with the closest answer drafted. You can ask a question using this form.
Photo of the week
Local residents and volunteers work together to put out an encroaching wildfire in Larouco, northwestern Spain, on Aug. 13.Lalo R. Villar/The Associated Press
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 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
- Grief, loss and uncertainty this wildfire season
- The North Atlantic right whale’s collision course
- Beauty is a thing of joy, a driver for change
- A park to remind us about the past
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