Global warml

ng speeds up

> British weather service says Pacific Ocean temperatures have flipped, increasing warming

Colten Kamlade
Staff Reporter

 

he “end of the recent slowdown

in global warming” has come
to an end, according to the Met
Office, the UK’s weather service.

This “is due to a flip in Pacific
sea-surface temperatures,” the Met
Office announced earlier this month.
The cause of this “flip” is the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation, “which entered its

positive phase, warming the tropics, the

west coast of North America and the

globe overall.” According to The National

Centres for Environmental Information

website, “the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

is often described as a long-lived El
Nifio-like pattern of Pacific climate
variability.” Essentially, a change in
wind patterns will cause the climate
to continue warming at a faster pace.
David Waddington, chair of earth
and environmental science at Douglas
College, confirmed the accuracy
of the Met Office’s statements.
“My understanding is that
the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is
very real, and that the switch to
positive phase occurred a couple

of years ago. So, these statements
are not controversial,” he said.
Environmentalists warn of
the far-reaching effects of climate
change. Waddington provided climate
predictions for areas surrounding
Douglas College campuses.
“As far as BC climate over the next
100 years is concerned, one of the key
people is botanist Dr. Richard Hebda
of the Royal BC Museum. He gave a
talk at Douglas a couple of years ago,
and he said that the interior of BC
would warm considerably, resulting
in dry desert conditions in South-

central BC. Of the coast, he said that
we could expect more extremes of
climate—more snow, more drought,
windstorms—together with increased
precipitation overall,” Waddington said.
Even closer to home, Waddington
said that “rising sea level will affect
the low-lying areas of Coquitlam, Port
Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Surrey,
Richmond, North Delta, Ladner,”
and that “winter flooding events will
occur when storms combine with high
tides, and overtop the dikes along
the ocean side and Fraser River.”
“We live in interesting times.”

Vancouver activists declare support
for fish farm occupation

> Indigenous groups have been camped out at farm in Strait of Georgia since August

Jake Wray
News Editor

 

Wtcsned Watch Salmon Society,
a Vancouver-based advocacy
group, has sent a letter to Dominic
Leblanc, minister of fisheries, oceans,
and the Canadian Coast Guard, voicing
their support for Indigenous groups
who are occupying two fish farms.
Representatives from Indigenous
groups including the Musgamagw
Dzawada’enuxw Nation and the Namgis
First Nation have, since August, been

camped out in protests at two fish farms

owned by Marine Harvest and located
on the Broughton Archipelago in the

Strait of Georgia. The group is calling on

Leblanc and other government officials
to end fish farming in British Columbia.

Stan Proboszcz, science advisor
for the Watershed Watch Salmon
Society, said in a press release that
his organization wrote in support of
the occupiers because the Ministry of
Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian
Coast Guard hasn’t acted against
fish farms despite evidence that
shows the farms are dangerous.

“We support the rights and title of
these First Nations,” Proboszcz said in
the release. “There’s ample scientific
evidence showing fish farms threaten
wild salmon. However, [the ministry]

has taken no significant precautionary
action regarding this evidence, risking
the loss of this valuable resource,

and leaving many communities

facing the impacts of this loss.”

Proboszcz accused the
ministry of favouring industry
over the environment.

“Many of BC’s wild salmon
populations are in decline and [the
ministry] continues to put the desires
of the salmon farming industry before
the interests of BC’s wild salmon and

citizens,” he said in the release.
Ernest Alfred, a hereditary chief
from the Namgis First Nation and
a representative of the occupation
group, thanked Watershed Watch
Salmon Society for their support in
a Facebook post on September 18.
“Thank you Watershed Watch
for speaking out. Serious and drastic
measures must be [taken] today!” he
wrote, adding that he is confident the
occupation will be successful. “After
almost a month of observing the fish

farm at Swanson Island, it is very clear
to me that we will remove the fish from
every farm in our waters ... Marine
Harvest, consider this notice before
making anymore plans. Business as
usual for the fish farm operations in
our waters are over! Start packing!”
Leblanc said he is aware of
the occupation, but he did not
respond to the occupiers’ demands,
according to a report in the
Times Colonist on August 29.

 

  

Photo by Bruce McMorran