- The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), a group of scientists specializing in all things ice, is warning that an increase of 2°C in the global temperature average will pretty much guarantee that sea levels will rise by 12 to 20 metres within a few centuries. Realistically, we should be planning for that, given that 1.5°C is probably out of reach. If you want to see what that future might look like, check out this site and plug in a few figures. A 12 metre rise in sea level would wipe a lot of major cities off the map, notably Boston, Atlantic City, Charleston, Savannah, and Miami, as well as significant parts of New York, Baltimore, and Washington. What we now call mainland Nova Scotia will be an island; PEI will be an archipelago. The west coast will fare somewhat better (much of Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are actually on fairly high ground) but Richmond and Delta will be gone entirely, as will a big chunk of Sacramento when that part of the Central Valley turns into an inland sea. The real horrors, of course, are to be found abroad; Kolkata and Dhaka, for instance, will be inundated. Those two metros, alone, are currently home to a population comparable to that of Canada. Yep, there's going to be a lot of human migration in the coming centuries, that's for sure.
- Heather Stefanson may be be stepping down as Tory leader sooner than anticipated. I guess she doesn't find being Leader of the Opposition to be much fun.
- There are calls for investments to increase the number of people living in Winnipeg's Exchange District. Some critics are saying there should be more focus on public safety, but if you think about it, one of the biggest things that can be done to improve public safety is more eyes on the street, and more people living there will provide just that. Of course, it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem, since in order to get people living there you need them to feel safe.
- Winnipeg Transit is accelerating their plans for improvements to their network, including increased bus frequency on core routes to a minimum of every 10 minutes during rush hour and at least every 15 minutes at other times, as is already in place along the Southwest Transitway. This would be welcome; hopefully they will be able to hire enough drivers to make it work.
- A panel put together by the Alberta government to review the handling of COVID-19 is saying that the Premier and cabinet should have ultimate authority over their response to future public health emergencies and consider "alternative scientific narratives". I can't help but think of Kellyanne Conway's phrase "alternative facts" when I hear that.
- A Federal Court judge has sided with the petrochemical industry against the federal government's classification of plastic manufactured goods as "toxic".
- Some members of the Alberta NDP think the party should consider a new name to avoid being associated with the federal party.
- The man who ran his pickup truck into a family on a London street, killing four of them, has been convicted of four counts of first degree murder and one of attempted murder. Whether this meets the threshold to be treated as an act of terrorism will be determined when he is sentenced next month. In one sense that is academic because he faces a minimum of 25 years before he is eligible for parole in any case, however it would have symbolic importance.
- Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid has called for the resignation of Netanyahu, and for a non-confidence vote in the Knesset, though perhaps more for allowing the initial Hamas attack in the first place than for the response.
- Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has had an exhibition of his works at a British gallery indefinitely postponed because of a tweet he made in support of the Palestinians. More worryingly, some Arab aid agencies have had Western funding cut off over their condemnation of Israel's response.
- The US government is making plans about how to regulate private space travel, including such things as space stations. And a Dutch company is looking at getting people to woohoo in space - all in the name of science, of course.
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