IN THIS EMAIL:
- Learn about what the collapse of the Milne ice shelf and the loss of a rare Arctic ecosystem might teach us about a changing planet - Discover how Canadian Geographic’s eight Live Net Zero families are finding ways to modify their holiday traditions to reduce household emissions
- Read about the student-led Ravine Stewardship Team at Toronto French School that is providing local acorns to neighbours and nurseries to increase the city’s native tree canopy - Ready for your next adventure? Take a look at Eagle-Eye Tours' adventure in Costa Rica
- Canadian Geographic's Canadian Photos of the Year Competition is back! |
| Last bastion of ice What the collapse of the Milne ice shelf and the loss of a rare Arctic ecosystem might teach us about a changing planet
Story and photography by Dustin Patar
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A fog bank moves in over the Milne ice shelf.
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| On a late July morning in 2020, as the world cycled through a revolving state of lockdowns and pandemic waves , Adrienne White, an ice analyst at the Canadian Ice Service, sat down at her desk and pulled up the most recent satellite imagery of Milne Fiord, Umingmak Nuna (Ellesmere Island), Nunavut. Despite some cloud cover over the ice shelf, she could see something wasn’t right — an unusual dark shape. As better imagery came in, White realized the dark shape was open water. The nearly 200-square-kilometre Milne Ice Shelf had collapsed, losing 40 per cent of its area almost overnight.
Floating in the open Arctic water was a 79-square-kilometre ice island roughly 50 per cent larger than Manhattan and 70 to 80 metres high. Despite White’s initial shock, the conditions were right. That July turned out to be tied for the hottest on record (only to be surpassed by 2021, and, more recently, 2023) , and even from satellite imagery in the weeks before, she could see dark spots on the ice surface that indicated melt.
Weeks earlier, White had noticed a patch of open water along the northwest coast of Ellesmere, which, in the past, would have been ice. “Over the past decade,” she says, “we’re starting to see open water appear during the summer, and with that, we’ve had these large calving events.” |
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The Shannons sport matching Christmas PJs while sitting in front of their Christmas tree. (Photo courtesy the Shannon household)
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The holidays are a time for giving, from gifting thoughtful presents to prioritizing quality time with loved ones. Though it’s a joyous season filled with warmth, joy and cheer enveloped by sparkling lights, hearty meals and cozy evenings by the fireplace, it can often translate to increased carbon emissions. This year, Canadian Geographic asked the eight competing Live Net Zero families to consider giving back to the planet by modifying their holiday habits to reduce their household carbon footprint. As the aviation industry has a significant impact on global emissions, accounting for two per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, the families considered ways to adjust their travel or gift-giving plans. From Alberta to Nova Scotia, the households explored effective ways to celebrate consciously. Here’s how they tackled their final challenge. |
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| | Toronto French School students sort acorns they’ve collected from oaks on school grounds and around the neighbourhood. Viable acorns will be provided to nurseries to grow new source-identified seedlings for City of Toronto plantings. (Photo: Léo Véteau/TFS)
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Janaya*, a Grade 12 student at Toronto French School, unlocks a gate in the tall chain link fence behind the sports field, and steps into another world. Dead leaves rustle underfoot as Janaya and a dozen of her fellow students thread their way carefully down a path into a steep ravine that borders the school campus. Stately trees rise around them — red oak, black cherry, sugar maple, hemlock, white pine. The school owns about 12 hectares of Toronto’s famed ravine network; its pupils grow up in this forest. Janaya and her classmates played tag here in grade school, and now, in high school biology class, they’re researching forest health. This forest on the bank of the Don River looks solid and serene – a verdant contrast to the city that hums on all sides. But after mapping the ravine and analyzing its trees and plants, the students posit that these woods, like many forested areas in Toronto, are in trouble. Invasive species threaten to take over. With the help of their biology teacher, Dr. Tamara Smith, the students, who call themselves the Ravine Stewardship Team, believe they can do something to help. |
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Canadian Geographic Adventures
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| | A small country that packs a giant biodiversity punch, Costa Rica is considered one of the most — if not the most — diverse country on the planet by land area! Owing to its tropical latitude, varied topography and microclimates, and an enviable amount of protected areas, there is no better place to enjoy a good day’s worth of birding for the level of effort involved. |
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From the cloud forests of Tapanti Reserve to the sandy shores of Cahuita, up through the canals of Tortuguero, we take in some of the most exciting birdwatching sites this country has to offer. At this time of year, raptor and passerine migration is in full swing and is an underestimated natural phenomenon that can provide hours of entertainment with the restless birds doing all the work! |
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Only two weeks left to enter our CPY23 competition! |
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Canadian Geographic’s Canadian Photos of the Year Competition is back! From now until the end of the year, Canadian photographers are invited to submit their best images to any of the four categories listed below for a chance to win amazing cash prizes. This year we will award one grand prize, four category prizes, four runner-up prizes and four honourable mentions. With $10,000 cash to award, plus a chance to be published in Canadian Geographic, this is an opportunity not to be missed!
The competition is open to all Canadian residents, and images must have been taken in the 2023 calendar year. Winners will be selected based on skill by a panel of judges. There is no limit to the number of images you can submit, and in fact, we encourage you to submit multiple entries as the grand prize winner is selected on the basis of an outstanding body of work!
The competition closes December 31, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET, so get those entries in!
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