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This week:
- How to hole (affordably) for heat, fume and wildfire
- The Big Picture: Is your neighbourhood contaminated with PFAS?
- 1 successful 4 caller cars sold successful 2025 volition beryllium electric, acknowledgment to China, study says
How to hole (affordably) for heat, fume and wildfire
Glennis Harwig has noticed that summers are getting hotter wherever she lives successful Lanark County, Ont. But energy is expensive, truthful she tries to support her portable aerial conditioner off.
Instead, she's recovered different mode to support the vigor down successful her 200-year-old log cabin: removable model blinds made from metallic exigency blankets from a camping store.
She cuts them to acceptable her windows and tapes them to woody dowels. Hooks successful the apical of the dowels, hooks successful the tops of her model frames, and voilà — she hangs the blinds to bespeak the vigor away. When evening comes, she tin instrumentality them down and rotation them up.
"If you teardrop them oregon harm them, you tin conscionable portion them up. You don't person to unreserved retired and bargain caller ones," she told CBC Radio's clime solutions show, What On Earth. "They springiness maine a bully chill country to unrecorded in. And they outgo very, precise little."
As summertime approaches, Adam Lynes-Ford says everyone needs to find affordable tricks similar Harwig's to assistance with heat, fume and wildfire risks.
"There are truly tangible things that we tin bash that don't outgo a batch of wealth and that truly bash assistance america beryllium prepared," said Lynes-Ford, co-founder of the non-profit radical My Climate Plan.
First, helium says, measure the clime risks successful your area. For galore Canadians, it volition beryllium utmost vigor — which tin beryllium dangerous, particularly for older people.
Lynes-Ford says inexpensive blackout curtains, oregon reflective blinds similar Harwig's, tin artifact retired a 4th of the vigor coming into your home.
If you're older oregon you unrecorded alone, helium recommends uncovering a "heat buddy." Exchange numbers with a neighbour and hold to cheque connected each different during vigor waves. Or, spell a measurement further and commencement a neighbourhood "resiliency group." Let your neighbours cognize you privation to motion radical up to assistance cheque connected each different during utmost upwind events.
"Those extremity up being truly large societal connections for people," helium said. "And it starts to consciousness like, yes, OK, there's thing I tin … bash to support myself and others safe."
If you ain a azygous household home, Lynes-Ford says see immoderate inexpensive fixes. He says astir 8 successful 10 homes successful Canada request amended insulation, which tin support your location cooler and your vigor bills down.
"If you've got an exposed attic, instrumentality a look up there. If your joists are showing, that means you request much insulation," helium said. "If you tin bash it yourself, great. But it doesn't outgo a batch to get idiosyncratic to travel successful and bash it for you."
Many Canadians could beryllium facing wildfire fume again this summer. Lynes-Ford says a inexpensive DIY hole for some renters and homeowners is replacing worn retired weatherstripping connected doors and windows. It volition assistance support fume retired and shave wealth disconnected your monthly vigor bills.
Now is besides a bully clip to bargain an aerial purifier. Lynes-Ford says a bully 1 costs astir $300, oregon you tin marque 1 for little than that with a container fan, aerial filter, cardboard and duct tape.
WATCH | How to physique a homemade aerial purifier: Shiven Taneja explains the Corsi-Rosenthal box
If you've already got an aerial cleaner, cheque present to spot if the filter needs changing. While you're astatine it, banal up connected high-quality masks to support your wellness extracurricular connected smoky days.
Anabela Bonada, managing manager of clime subject astatine the Intact Centre connected Climate Adaptation astatine the University of Waterloo, says those connected a fund tin cheque for utilized aerial purifiers online.
Bonada agrees that it's captious that radical hole themselves for clime impacts.
There's truthful overmuch that we tin bash arsenic residents, arsenic homeowners, to hole our homes and support our homes and lives healthy."
A much costly upgrade that helps with some vigor and aerial prime is simply a vigor pump — though those tin outgo $10,000 oregon more. Bonada suggests radical look into authorities subsidies to offset immoderate costs.
For galore Canadians, it's not conscionable fume — wildfires are a nonstop threat. If you unrecorded successful a wildfire-prone area, now's a bully clip to battalion an exigency spell container with the basics of what you'll request successful lawsuit of an evacuation.
If you unrecorded successful a house, the Intact Centre website has infographics with tips for cost-effective fireproofing.
They see cleaning retired eavestroughs, keeping lawns mowed, and removing combustible worldly from a 1.5-metre perimeter astir your home. Cut backmost histrion branches and determination woodpiles, propane tanks and woody patio furnishings arsenic acold distant arsenic possible. (Some security companies whitethorn bash this for you, oregon connection subsidies oregon discounts connected security if you bash this yourself.)
More costly upgrades see non-combusible fencing and Class A fire-resistant roofs due to the fact that astir homes that pain during wildfires thin to ignite due to the fact that of embers landing connected the roof.
Bonada acknowledges that renters can't marque these kinds of upgrades to the places they live, but suggests tenants could stock the Intact Centre's infographics with their landlords.
"Show them … that it tin beryllium rather inexpensive and casual to bash these upgrades. And it means comfy surviving conditions and harmless surviving conditions," she said.
Listen to the audio mentation of this piece What On Earth29:35How to hole (affordably) for heat, fume and wildfire
Both Bonada and Lynes-Ford urge thing other astir everyone tin bash to enactment safe: download Environment and Climate Change Canada's escaped WeatherCAN app and motion up for utmost upwind alerts.
Bonada says everyone needs to bash much to support communities arsenic clime impacts accelerate. But she's hopeful that individuals and governments astatine each levels are recognizing that there's enactment to do.
"Unfortunately, each of our scenarios bespeak that it's not going to get amended anytime soon," she said. "So preparedness is arsenic important arsenic ever."
— Rachel Sanders
Old issues of What connected Earth? are here. The CBC News clime leafage is here.
Check retired our podcast and vigor show. In our newest episode: When West Sacramento was saved from wildfire successful 2022, goats were hailed arsenic heroes. No, they didn't wield hoses oregon leap retired of helicopters. They conscionable did what goats do: devour everything successful sight, including the adust writer and weeds that tin substance wildfires. We caput to Northern California wherever governments are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars connected goats to make firebreaks. Then, we ask, could they assistance successful Canada, too?
What On Earth24:26Meet the firefighting goats of California
What On Earth drops caller podcast episodes each Wednesday and Saturday. You tin find them connected your favourite podcast app oregon connected request at CBC Listen. The vigor amusement airs Sundays astatine 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. successful Newfoundland and Labrador.
Have a compelling idiosyncratic communicative astir clime alteration you privation to stock with CBC News? Pitch a First Person file here.
Reader Feedback
Last week, Hayley Reid-Ginis wrote astir a radical protesting the biology impacts of accelerated manner by mending clothing.
Doris Ouellet, penning from Quebec, called the nonfiction "very inspiring." She added, "This brings freshness and reality, successful this so-industrial satellite of integrative and planned obsolescence, including fashion."
Mike Sorci of Guelph, Ont., said the connection from 1 of the volunteers reflects his ain experience. "Keep what you already ain is simply a bully motto. As a youngster astatine location it seemed to maine that my parent spent overmuch of her time mending and repairing clothes. After leaving home, it was earthy for maine to travel that illustration and marque elemental repairs, replacing buttons oregon mending seams with needle and thread, alternatively than replacing items of covering oregon paying for repairs — an enactment that persisted to this day. [My] caller upgrade to the handheld needle and thread is simply a sewing machine. This has opened up caller horizons of quality, neatness and assortment of repairs (example: zippers)."
Editor's note: We did privation to marque a tiny correction to last week's article, which said Sarah Jay was the enforcement manager of Fashion Revolution Canada. In fact, she is present the enforcement manager of Fashion Revolution, the planetary entity based successful the U.K.
Write america at [email protected]. (And consciousness escaped to nonstop photos, too!)
The Big Picture: Is your neighbourhood contaminated with PFAS?
You've apt heard of PFAS, toxic chemicals mostly known for their usage successful Teflon cookware and waterproof clothing.
But did you cognize determination are PFAS-contaminated sites crossed Canada?
We've mapped 80 of them crossed the country. There are apt hundreds more, and we program to proceed updating this representation arsenic we get much information.
At galore of the sites connected this map, places similar airports and subject bases, the chemicals are leaching into the situation and could beryllium contaminating adjacent rivers, fish, wildlife and adjacent residential wells.
You could unrecorded adjacent a PFAS hotspot without knowing it. That's wherefore we built this map, to marque definite each Canadians had entree to this information.
Find retired if there's a PFAS hotspot adjacent you and what you tin bash astir it.
— Jaela Bernstien
Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from astir the web
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Ontario has a prohibition connected offshore upwind successful the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, the Netherlands built the largest freshwater upwind workplace successful the satellite contempt section opposition. Here's a person look astatine however they did it, and the interaction it's had connected section communities.
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Whapmagoostui, a Cree community, and Kuujjuarapik, an Inuit community, are moving unneurotic connected a first-of-its-kind collaborative upwind task to bring sustainable vigor to some communities. (You request a escaped CBC Gem relationship to ticker — scroll down to May 18 occurrence called "Sustainable Energy")
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A period ago, zeppelin passengers soared crossed the Atlantic Ocean successful luxurious gondolas hanging from humongous hydrogen-filled balloons. Now, a fistful of start-ups privation to revive the airship arsenic a greener alternate for immoderate cargo and rider flights.
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Honda says it's scaling backmost investments successful EVs owed to lacklustre user demand. For Electrek, which covers the EV market, this does not compute.
1 successful 4 caller cars sold successful 2025 volition beryllium electric, acknowledgment to China, caller study says
More than 1 successful 4 cars sold worldwide successful 2025 volition beryllium electric, according to the latest projections from the International Energy Agency, and volition scope 40 per cent of each caller cars by 2030.
Among large markets, the undisputed person is China, whose caller EV income accrued 40 per cent year-over-year successful 2024. About fractional of each caller cars sold successful the state past twelvemonth were electric, accounting for 11 cardinal retired of the 17 cardinal caller EVs sold worldwide. Meanwhile, income maturation was level successful Europe and conscionable 10 per cent successful the U.S.
Behind the numbers, the IEA's yearly Global EV Outlook shows however China's decades of concern person paid off, portion besides making electrical cars much affordable for buyers successful processing countries astir the world. In Europe and the U.S., EV income faced challenges due to the fact that of importantly much costly cars and scaled-back EV rebates, but stay connected a semipermanent upward trajectory.
"We're not going back, nary substance what immoderate radical mightiness accidental oregon think. We are moving successful the modulation to EVs," said Daniel Breton, president of Electric Mobility Canada, an manufacture association.
Relatively affordable Chinese EVs besides drove up income by 60 per cent successful emerging economies successful Asia, Latin America and Africa.
In Canada, EVs grew their marketplace share, rising to 17 per cent of each caller cars sold successful 2024, up from 13 per cent successful 2023. Last year, 252,000 afloat electrical oregon plug-in hybrid electrical cars were sold successful Canada.
But EV manufacturing remains tiny here, astatine conscionable 25,000 cars annually.
How China dominates
China's occurrence successful EVs has been decades successful the making, according to James Jackson, probe chap astatine the University of Manchester who has an upcoming publication connected the governmental system of the EV transition.
And to recognize China's reasoning for its dense concern successful the industry, helium says, 1 indispensable instrumentality into relationship the symbolic worth of home car manufacturing, successful summation to the economical benefits.
"If you spell and bargain a BYD, you are past testament to superior Chinese manufacturing, and you volition truthful by hold beryllium symbolizing Chinese development, that it is not this import-dependent, predominantly agriculture-based economy," helium said, referring to the fashionable Chinese EV brand.
"They are the ascendant powerfulness now."
Because the car assemblage is truthful tied into a country's self-image arsenic an concern power, Jackson said, Beijing went all-in connected EVs, entering an manufacture that was different dominated by companies successful Europe, North America and Japan.
By the aboriginal 2000s, China's cardinal and authorities governments were pouring subsidies into EV companies, galore of which failed initially. But this besides led to dense contention betwixt the startups, Jackson says, driving down EV prices and yet creating a institution similar BYD, the world's largest EV maker, which is engaged expanding overseas adjacent arsenic it faces steep tariffs successful the U.S. and Canada. In 2024, two-thirds of the caller EVs sold successful China were really cheaper than their equivalent gas-powered cars, according to the report.
Part of BYD's — and China's — occurrence is the vertically integrated concern model. The state besides dominates successful making the batteries, sourcing their minerals and financing for car buyers. According to the IEA report, China accounts for 70 per cent of planetary EV production.
BYD adjacent has its ain ships for exporting its cars.
The result: Today, BYD has electrical cars priced arsenic debased arsenic $11,000.
Where does that permission Canada?
The study warned of the impacts of the U.S. President Donald Trump's commercialized and tariff threats connected the EV market. In response, Canada slapped 25 per cent tariffs connected definite vehicles and parts imported from the U.S.
But Electric Mobility Canada has enactment retired a caller study showing that astir electrical cars are not taxable to these counter-tariffs, arsenic astir EVs sold successful Canada travel from Europe and South Korea, not the U.S.
The relation recommends that Canada should support its EV Availability Standard, which yet requires companies to merchantability lone electrical cars successful the state by 2035.
Hongyu Xiao, a proscription expert astatine the Pembina Institute, a Canadian cleanable vigor think-tank, says wide adoption of EVs is important for Canada to conscionable its clime goals. Transportation is the second-largest emitting assemblage successful the country, aft lipid and gas.
"The clime benefits of the EV are successful information adjacent much pronounced [in Canada] due to the fact that we are not burning ember oregon a batch of state to powerfulness the EV. We are utilizing a batch of nuclear, hydro, renewable energy," helium said.
Apart from income targets, Xiao said, the authorities should reconstruct its EV inducement program, which provided up to $5,000 toward an EV purchase. Ottawa ended that programme earlier this year, though immoderate provinces person continued their rebates.
On the manufacturing front, Xiao suggested that Canada has an vantage successful presumption of captious minerals for batteries, and could pull carmakers arsenic the U.S. pulls back. But the authorities would request to pave the mode for companies by designing regulations making it easier for them to put successful Canada
But ultimately, the EV manufacture — and carmaking arsenic a full — volition apt beryllium mostly led by China into the future, Jackson says. Legacy car companies volition person to fig retired wherever they acceptable into China's proviso chain, Jackson said, oregon research niches successful the car marketplace wherever companies similar BYD don't dominate.
"There volition inactive beryllium Volkswagen and Ford and Peugeot successful the adjacent 20, 30, possibly 50 years. But I deliberation they'll beryllium operating astatine a wholly antithetic standard successful presumption of however overmuch cars they're producing."
— Inayat Singh
Thanks for reading. If you person questions, criticisms oregon communicative tips, delight nonstop them to [email protected].
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Editors: Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty