The environment around us is constantly changing and 2022 was no different. This past year, Canadians across provinces felt the changes in climate, noticed the shifts in biodiversity and witnessed the impact of these changes on the nation’s resources, economy and communities.

During this time, we published 159 stories by 239 authors on topics like these to give our readers a deeper understanding of the little — and not-so-little — things that affect their day-to-day lives.

We covered stories on the climate crisis, wildfires, biodiversity loss, renewable energy solutions, water supply challenges, decarbonization, thunderstorms and hurricanes, climate policy, Indigenous-led conservation and much more.

While the past 12 months have been riddled with different kinds of environmental crisis, we ended the year with events that showcased efforts to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis we are in.

A team of authors wrote about the historic agreement to provide “loss and damage” funding to climate disaster-hit vulnerable countries at the COP27 climate summit held in Egypt this November. Meanwhile, Noella Gray and Victoria Hodson delved into the Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted during the COP15 Biodiversity summit in Montréal, which called for the conservation of 30 percent of the world’s land and sea by 2030.

As we end the year with our west coast freezing like never before and our east coast experiencing a once-in-a-decade storm, I hope 2023 will bring new and sustainable solutions to tackling these challenges.

Happy holidays, and see you in the new year.

Freny Fernandes

Assistant Editor, Environment + Energy

Year in Review: Environment + Energy

Connecting fragmented wolverine habitat is essential for their conservation

Jason T Fisher, University of Victoria; Aerin Jacob, University of Northern British Columbia

The key to protecting wolverines around the world is to reduce trapping, minimize predator control pressures, and to protect and connect large blocks of intact habitat they need to survive.

Indigenous-led conservation aims to rekindle caribou abundance and traditions

Clayton Lamb, University of British Columbia

An Indigenous-led effort to increase caribou abundance and cultural practices like hunting is successfully increasing the caribou population

The future of fishing and fish — and the health of the ocean — hinges on economics and the idea of ‘infinity fish’

Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia

Humans have failed to take good care of the ocean — and the environment at large — because we undervalue its goods and services.

How the blue economy will shape the future of Canada’s oceans — and its coastal communities

Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Simon Fraser University; Leah M. Fusco, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Marleen Simone Schutter, University of Washington

Ocean equity will be the key for achieving blue economies in Canada and the world

A bridge to nowhere: Natural gas will not lead Canada to a sustainable energy future

Amy Janzwood, University of British Columbia; Heather Millar, University of New Brunswick

Fossil fuel companies are winning the battle on how we talk about natural gas expansion by referring to it as a “bridge fuel” or an essential bridge to the net-zero energy system of the future.

Planting trees can help the climate, but only if we also stop burning fossil fuels

H. Damon Matthews, Concordia University; Amy Luers, Concordia University; Kirsten Zickfeld, Simon Fraser University

Planting trees and preventing deforestation can store carbon in nature, but the effect may only be temporary. If we also eliminate emissions from fossil fuels, even this temporary effect is important.

Canada is witnessing more thunderstorm impacts than ever before

Gregory Kopp, Western University; David Sills, Western University; Julian Brimelow, Western University

Are severe and extreme weather events on the rise? And does this have anything to do with manmade climate change? The simple answer is: it’s complicated.

Wildfire smoke may warm the Earth for longer than we thought

Nealan Gerrebos, University of British Columbia; Allan Bertram, University of British Columbia

Brown carbon refers to a range of pollutants found in smoke from wildfires. They can contribute to global warming before they undergo a process that alters their chemical properties.