Good morning. The average person has access to more weather data than ever before, but when this flood of data consumes us, anxiety and misinformation tend to follow. More on that below, plus Canadian aid gets airdropped into Gaza, and new wildfire evacuations in B.C. But first:
Today’s headlines
- President Donald Trump raises tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35%
- Prime Minister Mark Carney’s policy shift on Palestinian statehood is met with cautious hope and criticism by Canadians
- The Weston family sought to avoid an auction in bid to buy the Hudson’s Bay charter
Adam Skinner, founder of the Instant Weather app and the Ontario Storm Watch Facebook group at Centennial Beach in Barrie, Ont. on July 29.DUANE COLE/The Globe and Mail
Internet culture
There’s a fine line between preparation and obsession
I’m Samantha Edwards, The Globe’s online culture reporter, and I would rank myself as a medium level weather app obsessive.
I check it first thing in the morning while I’m still in bed and again right before I leave the house. Increasingly, I’m looking at the air quality levels since Toronto, like huge swaths of Canada, are feeling the effects of wildfire smoke.
I don’t think I’m an anomaly, though. Haven’t we all become a little obsessed with weather data? And maybe even more in this era of extreme weather events becoming more frequent?
Our smartphones are like pocket-sized weather stations, feeding us a plethora of data: hour-by-hour rainfall predictions, pollen counts, wind strength, even something called the “frizzy hair scale,” which is exactly what it sounds like. This data helps us plan our days, but is it also making us more anxious?
To find out, 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.
On a weather forum, I met Matt Grauman, a self-proclaimed meteorology fanatic. He doesn’t use smartphone weather apps – “a lot of us weather nerds don’t like those little corny graphics because they’re not detailed enough” – and instead checks the actual model outputs sourced from radars and satellites. When a rare weather event is on the horizon, he says it can be as exciting as watching the Stanley Cup.
I also spoke with Andrew Beardsall, who described weather models as being as “addictive as social media.” An avid skier, he tends to check more in the winter. But, he admits, “I’m not very good at not checking it, so I’m probably checking like five to 10 times a day” even in the summer.
Both Grauman and Beardsall have been obsessed with weather since they were kids, a curiosity they have been able to fully embrace as adults. For others I spoke to, compulsive weather checking is a way for them to manage their climate anxiety.
On the subreddit r/weatheranxiety, one user said that when extreme weather is predicted, they load up their phone with a bunch of weather and local news apps, and check them obsessively until the event’s over. Either way they’re going to feel anxious, so they may as well be prepared, too.
But I also found in my reporting that as more people get their forecasts from social media and apps, there’s also a risk of misinformation spreading more quickly.
According to a recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Alex Jones’s false claims during the L.A. wildfires amassed more views on X than the combined reach of FEMA, major news outlets and emergency agencies. When I searched “weather” on TikTok, I saw several AI-generated tornadoes.
On Facebook, I stumbled upon a group called Ontario Storm Report, which was started by the former storm chaser Adam Skinner. He wanted to create a space to warn of severe weather he saw on the radar, but also to allow the public to share their own photos and updates. The community amassed tens of thousands of members, and Skinner has also launched similar groups in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
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.
As he says, “the unknown is much more scary.”
The Shot
‘Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation.’
Aid packages, dropped from an airplane, descend over Gaza, July 31.Hatem Khaled/Reuters
Canadian aid is being airdropped into Gaza a day after Ottawa joined allies in plans to recognize Palestine as a state.
But what would Canada’s recognition of Palestinian statehood mean in practice? It will be largely symbolic, experts told The Globe’s justice reporter David Ebner, saying the move will not have major practical or legal implications in the months ahead.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: A fire burning near the Okanagan community of Peachland has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residences, including the mayor’s.
Abroad: Donald Trump’s use of tariffs violates the U.S. Constitution, lawyers told a federal court in an attempt to overturn a series of import taxes imposed this year.
At home and abroad: Canada has joined 13 other countries to denounce what they describe as threatening Iranian state activity in Europe and North America.
Court: Former Magna co-op student files a lawsuit accusing founder Frank Stronach of sexual assault.
Confirmed: First human case of West Nile virus this year reported in Toronto, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.