Last week, Toronto had the worst air quality of any major city in the world. I'm writing this week's newsletter under those same smoke-filled skies.

☀️ Good news: Solar is now so affordable in Australia that three states now offer a free window of electricity midday.

🔥 Not-so-good news: Nearly 900 wildfires are burning across Canada and a new study estimates $23 billion per year in health impacts ... yet the government just approved a new pipeline to carry a million barrels of oil a day for decades to come.

🌬️ What you can do: If the smoke has reached you, stay inside, seal your windows, make or buy a HEPA air purifier, wear an N95 if you have to go out - and let your elected officials know why this is happening and what they can do about it!

See the full newsletter for much more info, including where to check the air quality near you, and share it with someone else who needs to know this week.

talkingclimate.ca/p/living-und…

It's been great having an opportunity to visit some different (from our usual) saltmarshes this summer.
We've seen potential restoration sites, very small, but growing, saltmarsh patches and far more extensive sites.

Saltmarsh is great for protecting coast from erosion, storing carbon and providing habitat, it's a Nature Based Solution!

#Saltmarsh #NatureBasedSolution

Most people assume caring about climate change makes them the odd one out. But that isn't true! And by keeping silent, we perpetuate that myth.

☀️ Good news: Inspired by the 89 Percent Project, 136 Japanese news outlets are teaming up to show people that the vast majority of the country wants stronger climate action.

🌡️ Not-so-good news: Recent heatwaves have buckled US highways, burst the concrete on part of Germany's Autobahn, and melted the asphalt around Leipzig's tram tracks - real life examples of how our infrastructure was built for yesterday's climate, not today's.

🏠 What you can do: As temperatures soar and wildfire smoke chokes the air, consider climate-proofing your home for a warming world.

Read more below - and share what you learn with someone else this week! talkingclimate.ca/p/we-arent-b…

For decades, coastal mangrove forests have been decimated by development. But just this past week, forty years of satellite data confirmed something remarkable ...

🌿 Good news: Mangrove forests worldwide are now growing back faster than they're disappearing, with forty years of NASA satellite data showing the decline has reversed thanks to conservation, restoration, and regrowth.

💰 Not-so-good news: A new study finds biodiversity loss carries a steep price tag that financial markets haven't priced in, with $83 trillion in assets potentially mis-priced and some countries facing GDP losses over 15% by 2030.

🌡️ What you can do: Reuters just launched an interactive tool showing how much hotter today is than normal wherever you live. Look up your city and use what you find to start a conversation today!

talkingclimate.ca/p/mangrove-f…

For the first time on record, solar generated more electricity than coal across the entire U.S. - despite active federal policy pushing the other direction.

☀️ Good news: The UK shut off its last coal plant in 2024. China now installs more wind and solar annually than the rest of the world combined. And last month, the U.S. crossed a milestone that seemed impossible five years ago: solar beat out coal on the national grid, for the first time in history.

🌡️ Not-so-good news: A super El Niño is set to supercharge heatwaves, droughts, and floods in the coming year. These in turn impact everything from coral bleaching risks to food price spikes worldwide.

🌈 What you can do: Find the warming stripes for your city at Show Your Stripes, share them, and use them to start one conversation. Those conversations matter more than you think!

talkingclimate.ca/p/the-great-…

Climate action is often dismissed as a money-making scheme. But if “green” is the scam, who’s actually cashing the checks?

In this episode of Cold Facts, Hot Takes, I dig into one of the internet’s favorite climate claims: the idea that “Big Green” is enriching itself off climate solutions and giving us scientists a cut.

The trolls might be right that there’s money distorting this conversation — but they’re pointing at the wrong industry. Let’s follow the money and talk about fossil fuel subsidies, oil company profits, and why some of the loudest accusations about climate “grifters” point in the wrong direction.

Watch the full video here: youtu.be/0XLpFVHC5Ag

Today is #ShowYourStripes day!

The warming stripes, created by climate scientist Ed Hawkins show how the place where you live has changed over time.

They've been used on electric busses, concert backdrops, sports uniforms + more to raise awareness. This year, the UK's National Trust is projecting warming stripes onto Glastonbury Tor with the message: "Start a conversation about our warming world."

Find yours at showyourstripes.info - there are stripes by continent, country, and even city. Download them, share them, and start a conversation today.

🔋 Good news: The world installed 112 gigawatts of new grid battery storage in 2025, a tenfold increase from just four years ago, and Australia is quietly out front: one in every 25 homes now has a residential battery.

🌊 Not-so-good news: Islands in India's Hooghly estuary have already been lost to rising seas and erosion and their residents are now climate refugees. As one journalist put it: the engineers knew, the scientists warned, and the decision was made not to act.

💰 What you can do: Check whether your retirement savings are invested in fossil fuels. Free tools like Fossil Free Funds (US and Canada), Ethical Consumer (UK), and Market Forces (Australia) make it fast and easy to find out. Then, take action.

Click the link below to read this week's full newsletter, and share one thing you learn with someone else. That conversation matters more than you know ... and you might be surprised where it leads! talkingclimate.ca/p/the-batter…

There are still some spaces available for our Saltmarsh, Sea and Sustainability walk and talk next Wednesday, the 17th June, 10am-12noon just outside of St Andrews, Fife.

Get in touch with greenshores@st-andrews.ac.uk to book your spot and for the meet up location.

This is part of the Fife Climate Festival

fccan.org.uk/events/saltmarshe…

#Saltmarsh #Restoration #FifeClimateFestival

What do a giant new marine sanctuary, the loss of climate journalism, and plug-in solar panels for apartment balconies have in common?

They all show how much the future depends on the choices we make today.

🐠 Good News: Papua New Guinea just created the largest marine protected area in its history, safeguarding a stretch of ocean nearly the size of the UK in one of the most biodiverse marine regions on Earth.

😱 Not-So-Good News: NPR's climate desk has been dismantled, and many other major news organizations are doing away with climate reporting altogether. But the climate crisis doesn't go away when we stop covering it.

😎 What You Can Do: If you rent or live in an apartment, check out "balcony solar." And if local regulations are standing in the way? Use your voice to advocate for change. That's how the system changes.

Read more here and, as always, don't forget to use what you learn to start a conversation today! talkingclimate.ca/p/an-ocean-s…

A stack of biodegradable BESE elements we are planning on trialling as protection for newly planted saltmarsh grasses and sea plantain.

#TextureTuesday #SaltmarshRestoration #NatureBasedSolutions