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.
Ocean temperatures in Atlantic Canada set record highs again in 2022, according to the latest assessment released by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Results from the annual Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program show surface, intermediate and bottom temperatures were well above normal last year. "It was widespread. It was everywhere," said Peter Galbraith, a DFO research scientist in Mont-Joli, Que. "It was really, really warm across the zone."
Microclimates exist all around us. It may be that side of a city that always seems to be a little warmer, or always gets more snow. Think about Calgary, with its rain shadow from the mountains and chinook winds, or downtown Vancouver, which generally is warmer and sees less snow than surrounding areas. Microclimates can range in scale from the urban heat island effect that encompasses an entire downtown, right down to the sides of your yard that are able to grow different things.
