🌊 Good news: In the Faroe Islands, scientists have measured Atlantic currents since 1993. Even as the ocean warms, the Faroe record is holding steady for now; and we only know that because someone kept measuring.

🌍 Very sad news: In rural Afghanistan, young girls who did almost nothing to cause climate change are paying its steepest price. Climate-driven droughts are decimating harvests and the resulting debt is forcing some families to marry off their daughters far too early.

🪺 What you can do: You can add to the climate record yourself and I have lots of links here of ways you can help, from logging seasonal changes to transcribing old handwritten weather records.

Read on and, as always, share what you learn with someone you know --
https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/how-climate-driven-droughts-end-childhoods

How a fake Loch Ness Monster helped bring a dammed-up river back to life -- and how climate change is coming for your pumpkins. Read on!

🌊 Good news: In Grand Rapids, they're ripping out century-old dams to bring the rapids back to the Grand River - and this 15-year initiative was catalyzed by a Nessie art installation.

🎃 Not-so-good news: This year the pumpkins took a beating worldwide, with drought, heat and flood decimating crops from North America to the UK.

📣 What you can do: In Australia, there’s still time to join Climate for Change’s Challenge for Climate: ten climate actions over ten days, through October 24. And in Canada, enter Canadian Geographic’s Live Net Zero Household Challenge by writing in the climate actions you’re already taking at home!

Even if you're not in Australia or Canada, tell someone why climate change matters to you this week. Most of us already care, we just have to say so out loud - and by doing so, we're "unsilencing the majority"! 💚

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/whats-spooking-pumpkin-farmers

This week I handed my newsletter to the one and only Queen of Peat, ecologist Merritt Turetsky. Her big idea? Stop treating wet land as a problem to drain. Start seeing it as something to work with instead!

🌿 Good news: A new approach called paludiculture flips the script: instead of draining peatlands to farm them, it keeps them wet and grows what actually thrives there: cattails for insulation, sago for food, and much more.

🔥 Not-so-good news: When a peatland is drained, it turns from a carbon vault to carbon source. A single drained bog the size of Manhattan can release as much CO₂ as burning a few hundred thousand pounds of coal a day.

🐸 What you can do: Become a bog champion: visit a local wetland and learn what lives there, ask your garden store to drop peat-based compost, and back the groups working to protect peatlands! For more, check out Merritt's new book, Bogland.

This week, plan a visit to a wetland near you. We can’t protect what we don’t know and appreciate, and action begins the moment we start to care 💚

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/whats-hiding-beneath-the-bog

At this year's NY Climate Week, the biggest positive change I saw wasn't the buzz about some new technology or policy. It was people finally realizing that talking about climate is where action starts. 👏 👏 👏

🗣️ Good news: For the first time ever there were more events on climate communication than I could attend, nearly 50 -- from a climate storytelling masterclass to Sesame Street's Elmo to our Talking Climate Collaborative launch. This tells me that communication is finally starting to be treated as the work itself, rather than an afterthought 😅

📢 Not-so-good news: What people believe is shaped less by the facts and a lot more by what whoever they trust tells them. This year, climate misinformation was coming from the US president at the UN podium ... which is exactly why who chooses to speak up matters so much.

🤝 What you can do: The most trusted messenger on climate isn't a scientist or an activist. It's someone people already know and trust. Which means, to the people you know, it's you!

So this week, share one thing you've learned with a community you're part of, and be brave enough to bring it up with someone who's never heard you say it.

Talking about climate isn't optional. It's where change begins 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/conversations-catching-on-at-climate

Many of us eat meals we had no hand in planning, whether at school, at work, or in the hospital. Often, we assume there's nothing we can do about them ... but one hospital just proved otherwise. Read on!

🍽️ Good news: At a Vancouver hospital, psychology & sustainability researchers teamed up with a chef, dietitians, and doctors to create new fish- and plant-rich dishes patients loved. Nutrition went up, food-related emissions went down, and more than 20 other hospitals are following suit!

🐟 Not-so-good news: As oceans warm, the algae at the base of the marine food web are making fewer of the omega-3s our eyes, brains, and hearts depend on. That shortfall travels all the way up to the fish on our plates.

🙋🏻‍♀️ What you can do: The kitchens at your school, workplace, or church serve more food in a week than you'll cook in a year. This makes them one of the highest-impact places to change what's on the plate.

This week, find out who plans the menu at a cafeteria where you eat, and ask if they'd add more healthy and plant-rich options. You don't need a plan, a budget, or a title, just the willingness to ask 💚
https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/climate-action-on-the-menu

Is the climate movement getting in our own way? 👀

Sometimes, we're so busy picking apart how our allies talk about climate change that we lose sight of what we're all trying to accomplish.

Adam Met from AJR and Planet Reimagined and I talk about climate hushing, why we can't let perfect be the enemy of good, and how we can spend less time fighting each other and more time moving solutions forward.

Because we have enough obstacles to overcome without becoming obstacles for each other.

Become a paid subscriber to watch the full video and support more conversations like this one. https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/are-we-getting-in-our-own-way

If we want better climate conversations, we need to invest in the people having them.

I know firsthand how isolating this work can be — and how much more effective we could be with better access to one another, to evidence about what works, and to the support needed to keep going.

That’s why I’m so excited to finally introduce the Talking Climate Collaborative.

This week, my friend, fellow co-founder, and TCC Executive Director Bernadette Woods Placky is joining me to share why we built TCC and what our new Landscape Assessment taught us about the field.

📣 Good news: People already care, and climate communicators are working hard to break the silence. Nearly 8 in 10 communicators we surveyed talk about climate at least weekly.

🤐 Not-so-good news: A third surveyed work entirely alone, and only 41% have received funding for climate communication in the past five years. Many also want more help finding collaborators and learning what works.

🗣️ What you can do: Explore TCC’s new tools, resources, network, and Landscape Assessment — and find something that can help you start your next climate conversation.

Communication is climate action. The more we talk, the easier it becomes for others to join in.

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/communication-is-a-climate-action

This week I handed the newsletter over to climate policy & politics expert Leah Stokes. She says, talking about climate change doesn't lose elections. It wins them. Read on!

🗳️ Good news: Research shows U.S. candidates who make climate a top priority get a 4.5-point bump in support, and voters don't want it traded off against affordability or healthcare.

🏫 Not-so-good news: California just let its $200 million program to put heat pumps and air conditioning in schools lapse, in the same week that extreme heat forced half a million CA schoolkids into shortened or online school days.

🌊 What you can do: Try Leah's new Carbon Wave Calculator. It shows how your own choices at home (a heat pump, an EV, an e-bike) can build a wave that ripples out to your city, your state, and even national policy.

As Leah says, a footprint is what one person leaves behind. A wave is what we make together 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/leahstokes

As heat waves scorched Europe and North America this summer, nuclear and fossil fuel plants closed down ... but solar and batteries kept the lights on.

🔋 Good news: Solar delivered a full 25% of the EU's electricity in June and July, and batteries stored it to power the grid overnight.

🧒 Not-so-good news: Nearly half of all children under ten now endure at least 20 days a year of dangerous, climate-driven heat.

🧊 What you can do: A new Play It Cool program from The Aspen Institute, led by my friend and Talking Climate Collaborative founding teammate Laura Schifter, aims to protect young athletes from heat illness with three steps: Speak Up, Sit Out, Cool Down!

This week, memorize these three steps and share them with a parent, coach, or young athlete you know. Knowing what to do can save a life 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/powering-through-the-heat

Earlier this summer, extreme heat was forcing major outdoor events to cancel — and the climate trolls had plenty to say about it.

“It’s just summer.”
“It’s been hotter before.”
“The climate has always changed.”
“Just tough it out.”

So in this episode of Cold Facts, Hot Takes, I’m taking on those arguments one by one.

Why are today’s heat waves becoming longer, stronger, and more dangerous? Why can’t natural factors explain the warming we’re seeing? What does extreme heat actually do to the human body? And no, the answer isn’t giving up air conditioning.

Because climate change isn’t really about “saving the planet.” It’s about saving us.

Enjoy the preview here: https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/preview-trolls-vs-heat-waves

Upgrade your subscription to watch the full episode: https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/cfht-heatwaves

Bad climate news finds us everywhere: our inboxes, our screens, and more ... but good news is often hiding in plain sight and sometimes it's right on the roof of your own old high school.

🏫 Good news: My dad just tipped me off that the Toronto District School Board now has 358 buildings with rooftop solar; that's nearly 150,000 panels quietly generating clean power over students' heads as they study.

🏔️ Not-so-good news: A catastrophic flash flood in the Himalayas has killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands more missing across Nepal and China. It's a disaster climate change made more likely and one that fell hardest on those who did the least to cause it.

🙏 If you'd like to help, please donate to Nepal's national Disaster Relief Fund: https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np/

🔦 What you can do: Go climate sleuthing where you live: look for the solar panels, electric buses, bike lanes, and heat pumps already showing up around you. Then, share what you see with others around you. The more visible these solutions get, the faster your neighbour asks, "why not here?" 💚

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/a-climate-win-in-my-backyard

The heat keeps setting records & the hard news keeps coming ... but hopeful climate stories are hiding in ordinary places: a kitchen, an elementary classroom, and a retired coal plant. Read on!

🍳 Good news: A new study found that when families asthma swapped their gas stove for an electric one, hospital visits and missed work & school days dropped by 70%!

🌡️ Not-so-good news: A new study measuring heat the way our bodies actually feel it, factoring in humidity and wind, found that a billion more people now endure extreme heat stress each year than in the 1970s.

📚 What you can do: The Cooler Communities program has put 300,000 free children's books into elementary classrooms, teaching them where their energy comes from and the power they have to shape their future

This week, share one of these stories with someone who needs a reason for hope. You don't have to wait for permission to start making a difference 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/asthma-it-could-be-your-stove

The headlines this summer make it easy to feel as if nothing can be done: record heat and wildfires continue, while fossil fuel companies rake in billions. But feeling powerless is exactly the trap, and this week there's new science on how to avoid it. Read on!

🧠 Good news: Watching a short "prebunking" video helps people across the political spectrum spot debilitating climate doom for what it is, and share it less.

🛢️ Not-so-good news: The same fossil fuel emissions driving this summer's heat and wildfires are making their producers richer than ever, with Oxfam projecting that six major oil companies will earn a combined $45 billion in Q2 of 2026, nearly double their Q1 earnings.

🗣️ What you can do: Use your voice: talk about the unfairness at the heart of this story, where a handful of companies earn billions while families pay through higher bills, lost work, and worse health.

When we change social norms, we activate societal tipping points. Your voice is more powerful than you think 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/polluters-should-pay

My friend Jim Stump recently spent five days camping above the Arctic Circle with a group of faith leaders in the very place Big Oil keeps trying to drill ... and what's happening there right now is more hopeful than you'd think.

💸 Good news: When 690,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge went up for oil and gas leasing this June, only two bidders showed up; and neither of them were a major oil company.

🧊 Not-so-good news: The same Arctic that sustains polar bears, caribou, and Gwich'in communities just recorded its hottest year since at least 1900, with winter sea ice hitting the lowest level in the 47-year satellite record.

🌿 What you can do: Jim's group was hosted by the Gwich'in people, who have cared for this land for thousands of years. Learn more about their land and their fight with the two-minute film linked here.

Standing with those on the front lines starts with paying attention; and that support grows when we share their story. 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/why-the-arctic-says-no-to-big-oil

Week after week, wildfires & extreme heat continue to devastate communities across North America and Europe ... but there's still good news happening, and inspiring climate action too. Read on!

☀️ Good news: The world's first "solar railway" laid 48 panels between active train tracks in Switzerland to generate 16,000 kWh in its first year. The technology is now expanding to other countries!

🔥 Not-so-good news: Wildfires across France and Spain have driven more than 300,000 people from their homes, in a summer so extreme that this part of France has already seen more days above 40°C in 2026 than in the entire 105 years from 1920 through 2025.

🌱 What you can do: Meet the Climate Joy Project in Ashland, Oregon, where everyday people share how they're putting climate solutions to work!

This week, share one thing you learn here. Conversation matters more than you think 💚 https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/the-worlds-first-solar-railway

What does it look like when athletes personally experience extreme heat and climate change?

This week, Talking Climate is hosted by two people who can answer that question firsthand: retired pro soccer/football player Imani Dorsey Kunzweiler and current pro Jasmyne Spencer - both EcoAthletes Champions.

⚽ Good news: Athletes everywhere are speaking up on climate and people are listening. Efforts range from integrating sustainability into college sports to climate-proofing community playing fields.

🌡️ Not-so-good news: The heat is already here, from Imani's near-collapse from heat exhaustion after a match to triathlons cancelled, youth tournaments suspended, and pro games played under wildfire smoke this summer alone.

📣 What you can do: You don't have to be an athlete or a climate scientist to make a difference. The most powerful thing any of us can do is use our voice, sharing our own story or backing teams and events going green.

Check out everything Imani and Jasmyne have to say below, and share it with the athlete, coach, or sports fan in your life to start a conversation this week. https://open.substack.com/pub/talkingclimatenewsletter/p/the-future-of-sports-depends-on-climate?r=1g6pfa&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Last week, Toronto had the worst air quality of any major city in the world. I'm writing this week's newsletter under those same smoke-filled skies.

☀️ Good news: Solar is now so affordable in Australia that three states now offer a free window of electricity midday.

🔥 Not-so-good news: Nearly 900 wildfires are burning across Canada and a new study estimates $23 billion per year in health impacts ... yet the government just approved a new pipeline to carry a million barrels of oil a day for decades to come.

🌬️ What you can do: If the smoke has reached you, stay inside, seal your windows, make or buy a HEPA air purifier, wear an N95 if you have to go out - and let your elected officials know why this is happening and what they can do about it!

See the full newsletter for much more info, including where to check the air quality near you, and share it with someone else who needs to know this week.

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/living-under-smoke-filled-skies

Most people assume caring about climate change makes them the odd one out. But that isn't true! And by keeping silent, we perpetuate that myth.

☀️ Good news: Inspired by the 89 Percent Project, 136 Japanese news outlets are teaming up to show people that the vast majority of the country wants stronger climate action.

🌡️ Not-so-good news: Recent heatwaves have buckled US highways, burst the concrete on part of Germany's Autobahn, and melted the asphalt around Leipzig's tram tracks - real life examples of how our infrastructure was built for yesterday's climate, not today's.

🏠 What you can do: As temperatures soar and wildfire smoke chokes the air, consider climate-proofing your home for a warming world.

Read more below - and share what you learn with someone else this week! https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/we-arent-built-for-this-heat?r=2eiy9u

For decades, coastal mangrove forests have been decimated by development. But just this past week, forty years of satellite data confirmed something remarkable ...

🌿 Good news: Mangrove forests worldwide are now growing back faster than they're disappearing, with forty years of NASA satellite data showing the decline has reversed thanks to conservation, restoration, and regrowth.

💰 Not-so-good news: A new study finds biodiversity loss carries a steep price tag that financial markets haven't priced in, with $83 trillion in assets potentially mis-priced and some countries facing GDP losses over 15% by 2030.

🌡️ What you can do: Reuters just launched an interactive tool showing how much hotter today is than normal wherever you live. Look up your city and use what you find to start a conversation today!

https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/mangrove-forests-are-proof-that-protecting

Heat records are falling across Europe and North America right now. This week's Talking Climate connects what's happening to what you can do about it.

⚽ Good news: Voices inside football are speaking up about climate: not just asking for recycling bins, but pushing back on fossil fuel sponsorships and building tool-kits in six languages to help clubs turn climate action into something real for fans and communities.

🌡️ Not-so-good news: Early estimates suggest more than 20,000 people have already died in the EU heatwave, and climate scientists confirm the record-breaking temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the burning of fossil fuels.

💬 What you can do: When someone asks why this summer feels so brutal, you don't need to be a climate scientist to answer. A new study shows that when people learn an extreme weather event was made worse by climate change, they're significantly more likely to support climate action.

Read the full issue below, and share one thing you learn with people you know. That conversation is one of the most important things you can do right now.
https://www.talkingclimate.ca/p/extreme-heat-is-everyones-problem