Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

extreme events

CONTRIBUTORS OPINION Toward a more equitable water future for Canada

CONTRIBUTORS OPINION Toward a more equitable water future for Canada

Although Canada is home to 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater supply, there are still long-term advisories in effect here for 29 communities that do not have access to clean drinking water. Alarmingly, two-thirds of these long-term advisories affect Indigenous communities, including those in southern Ontario where clean water is plentiful in neighbouring towns and cities. Climate change and extreme events are exacerbating water quality degradation in lakes and rivers. The latest report from the UN’s climate panel highlights the disproportionate impact our warming planet has on marginalized communities. A lack of resilient infrastructure means communities are further affected; prioritizing better connections between water systems and people is essential to achieving equitable and safe access to clean water.

Predicting the unpredictable: How scientists are improving cold-region water and climate prediction models

Predicting the unpredictable: How scientists are improving cold-region water and climate prediction models

The world is changing rapidly, and the past is no longer a guide to the future in terms of extreme events and floods. That’s one of the findings from a report on the Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN), a summary of the research program that wrapped up in 2018 and which recently compiled many of its scientific advances in a special issue of the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.

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