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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
The realities of climate change are happening right in front of us – punishing heat waves, towns destroyed by wildfires, dangerous smoke, unpredictable flash floods. But how do you talk to kids about climate change without overwhelming or scaring them?
Amberly McAteer is a contributing columnist for The Globe who often writes about parenting. She joined The Decibel Podcast to talk about approaches to these challenging conversations.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:Sports: As wildfire smoke threatens air quality, National Bank Open organizers prepare contingenciesPartnerships: In West Africa, young agribusiness leaders apply climate solutions learned in QuebecPolitics: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith dismisses, demands apology for Jasper wildfire reportGardening: Food gardens take root on the front lawnScience: Why the Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ still matters, 100 years laterEducation: University of Calgary launches new energy science program to respond to shifting industrySmoke: Wildfire smoke prompted air-quality warnings for much of Central Canada and Manitoba last weekHealth: What are the health risks of wildfire smoke? How to protect your lungs from poor air qualityGlobal warming: U.K. has become warmer over the past decade with more extreme weather, report saysA deeper diveOpen this photo in gallery:
Part of Biidaasige Park nears completion on July 16, 2025, in Toronto’s Port Lands.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
After 18 years of work, Toronto’s Port Lands opens to the public
For this week’s deeper dive, a closer look at a new parkland is an example of how we can adapt our cities to a changing climate.
The story of the Toronto Port Lands Flood Protection Project might seem too local for this newsletter, but it is also a one-of-a-kind success story, and one of the largest infrastructure projects of its kind in North America.
The design emerged from a 2007 international competition and a big idea: redraw the mouth of the Don. That’s right. Move a river. But what started as an ambitious flood management project has become a $1.5-billion effort to also renew the area’s ecological and Indigenous past.
This weekend was the opening of the first 50 acres of Biidaasige Park. Biidaasige is an Anishinaabemowin word that means “sunlight shining toward us.”
Biidaasige Park’s playground nears completion on July 17, 2025, as preparations remain underway ahead of its public opening in Toronto’s Port Lands.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
Alex Bozikovic is The Globe’s architecture critic and has been following this project since the beginning. In a recent edition of the Morning Update newsletter, he tells us that this isn’t just about a river but the transformation of the city. He explores what the project can teach us.
“First, that we have the tools to mitigate the effects of climate change by reshaping the urban fabric itself,” he wrote. “The Don River is prone to flooding, in part because it was hemmed in and its wetlands paved more than a century ago. This project replaces what was lost with a new, engineered marsh.”
“Second, it shows that big, ambitious public works are possible.”
You can also check out our photo essay: Over six years, two photographers had unprecedented access to create a visual record of the evolution of the project.
“We have witnessed the stages of the project shift from heavy machinery and excavation to hand labour, planting and weeding. We’ve documented First Nations’ ceremonial activities, returning wildlife and the emerging new ecosystem,” wrote Vid Ingelevics, a visual artist, former educator and now professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University. “All of this work has been carried out through ever-changing and sometimes challenging weather conditions on a site that, for the first few years, existed mainly as fields of mud and dust.”
The shift from large-scale machinery used to demolish buildings and excavate and line the new river to labour on a more human scale. In 2022, the increasing appearance of large numbers of workers focused on planting and weeding was quite dramatic.VID INGELEVICS / RYAN WALKER
“It’s a story of time, of people, of history moving in cycles, of shifting social values, and of the evolution of land itself,” said Ryan Walker, a lens-based artist exploring land, identity, and society’s response to climate change. “These images are our way of honouring the unseen: the moments, hands and histories buried in the earth, waiting for time to bring them to light.”
A view from October, 2019 of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project site.VID INGELEVICS / RYAN WALKER
The second (and final) stage of Biidaasige Park is set to open next year, with another, larger playground. A circuit of 15 public art sites through the park is scheduled to launch in 2026, and will include a commission by Kent Monkman.
Already, the city has a new place where history, nature and urban life can meet − and a taste of the future of Toronto’s changed waterfront.
What else you missedOpinion and analysis
Editorial board: The dangers of isolation in a sweltering city
Glenn McGillivray: We have to learn to live with wildfire smoke
Anakana Schofield: When the owls showed up in my Vancouver neighbourhood, it reminded me how wonderful it is to be alive
Green Investing
U.K. ditches plans for sustainable finance taxonomy. Is Canada next?
Britain has dropped plans for a guidebook that certifies certain investments as green, raising questions about Canada’s halting efforts to adopt such a document as a key part of a transition to a low-carbon economy.
Canada has worked for years toward finalizing one that reflects the makeup of the national economy, including its large natural resource sectors – but progress appears to have stalled again with Ottawa focused on trade and U.S. tariffs.
The Climate Exchange
We’ve launched the next chapter of The Climate Exchange, an interactive, digital hub where The Globe answers your most pressing questions about climate change. More than 300 questions were submitted as of September. The first batch of answers tackles 30 of them. They can be found with the help of a search tool developed by The Globe that makes use of artificial intelligence to match readers’ questions with the closest answer drafted. We plan to answer a total of 75 questions.
Photo of the weekOpen this photo in gallery:
Microplastics found in sea species at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research are stored in containers on July 15 in Anavissos near Athens, Greece. Due to its densely populated coastlines, fishing and tourism, the Mediterranean sea is a hot spot for plastic pollution. A new study has found that the overwhelming majority of protein foods such as meat and fish are contaminated with microplastics.Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
Guides and ExplainersCatch up on Globe Climate
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