Climate Activists March Around the World Demanding End to Fossil Fuel Era

This article was originally published in the National Observer.

On September 15-17, hundreds of thousands of people around the world took to the streets demanding an end to fossil fuels and a rapid transition to clean energy sources. This included the March to #EndFossilFuels fast, fair and forever in New York City in the run up to the UN Climate Ambition Summit on September 20. World leaders will be convening in New York to discuss updated plans to reduce emissions and transition to renewable energy.

(Tens of thousands took part in the march to #EndFossilFuels in New York City on September 17 2023. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The meeting takes place during a year of massive climate disruption including record-breaking heat waves, floods and forest fires. The world is currently on track to overshoot the 1.5°C target that was first agreed upon in 2015 by almost every country on earth as outlined in the Paris Agreement, according to the World Meteorological Association. The temperature threshold could be breached by 2027. The need to phase out fossil fuels has never been more urgent.

Organizations are calling on President Biden to:

• Stop federal approvals of new fossil fuel projects and repeal permits of previously approved projects
• Phase out fossil fuel drilling on public lands and waters
• Declare a climate emergency to halt fossil fuel exports and investments abroad and speed up investment in decentralized clean energy sources
• Provide a just transition plan that creates jobs and helps communities and workers

President Biden recently approved two new ‘carbon bombs’, the Willow Oil Drilling Project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia/West Virginia.

(President Biden approved the Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska in March 2023. The project is expected to release 9.2 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, roughly equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars on the road. Photo: Getty Images, BBC)

It is important that the US lead on this issue, as they are the largest producer of oil and gas in the world. However, Canada is also a major oil and gas producing country, and we need to show leadership as well.

Climate activists are getting more explicit in their demands by specifically calling for an end to fossil fuels, which is good because there are still many governments such as the US, Canada and Australia that live in a delusional world where we can get our emissions down to zero while at the same time approving and subsidizing new fossil fuel projects. Climate action and fossil fuels are inherently contradictory; the vast majority of CO2 emissions in Canada and around the world come directly from producing or burning fossil fuels.

Justin Trudeau for instance attended the Global Climate Strike in 2019 in Montreal, but he was called out for his governments’ approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

(Justin Trudeau at the Global Climate Strike in Montreal in 2019. He was criticized for attending the rally despite having recently approved the Trans Mountain pipeline. Photo: CBC)

Fossil fuel companies have desperately tried to convince the public and governments that they are apart of the solution so they can continue to make billions in profit as the climate crisis continues to get more serious. This is despite the fact that renewables continue to make up only a slight portion of their portfolios compared to hydrocarbons. They have also been pedalling the idea of carbon capture and storage, which is more a lifeline for industry than it is a real climate solution.

Not only has carbon capture and storage not been effective in preventing a large amount of emissions from being released into the atmosphere to date, but it only deals with one side of the issue- production. The majority of emissions from fossil fuels come from combustion when the fuel is burned in engines or factories to power our cars and infrastructure. In Canada we export a large amount of our oil and gas to the US, meaning we ship our emissions away as well.

(The oil and gas sector is the largest source of CO2 emissions in Canada. Photo: Jason Franson, The Canadian Press)

The movement to phase out fossil fuels has been gaining traction over the world. To date 6 nation states, 2150 civil society organizations, 89 cities and subnational governments and 623,178 individuals have endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). The FFNPT is important as up until very recently climate agreements failed to mention fossil fuels at all, and the language around fossil fuels in the newest climate agreements are incredibly weak and unenforceable.

A fossil fuel-free world is possible and within our grasp. We can free ourselves of our reliance on fossil fuels by investing in climate solutions like clean energy, public transit and energy efficiency. It’s not too late to stabilize the earth’s climate and create a world where air pollution, oil spills and environmental degradation are history.

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Alberta Hits Pause on Renewables as Climate Crisis Intensifies

In the midst of the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, Alberta announced a 7-month moratorium on new renewable energy projects over 1 megawatt.

Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season has prompted several evacuations and emergency orders across the country. (Picture: Government of Alberta)

The reason for doing so according to the provincial government was to allow time to study and address concerns regarding land reclamation, development on agricultural lands and system reliability.

In order to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis, it is critical that we transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy sources, while at the same time investing in other climate solutions like public transit and energy efficiency. The majority of the world’s CO2 emissions comes from burning fossil fuels, whether for electricity, driving cars or heating buildings. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called on countries to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and to invest in clean energy sources like wind and solar in order to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

Scientists have been making the link between warming temperatures and more frequent and intense wildfires for decades. The announcement by the Alberta government not only comes at a time when Canada and Alberta are experiencing unprecedented wildfires, but when heat records and extreme climate events are happening all over the world- from Hawaii to Asia to Europe. July 2023 set the record for the hottest month in global recorded history.

The Alberta government is clearly out of touch when it comes to the urgency on addressing the climate emergency. We need to be doing everything within our power to reduce climate pollution and speed up the transition to clean energy, not hinder it.

That’s not to say some of the concerns around renewable energy development aren’t valid, however the concerns likely could have been addressed without announcing a full stop on industry, according to experts. In many cases these are issues industry is already working on.

In some cases these concerns might be less valid; for example grazing can happen on land with wind turbines.

It’s hard to also not view the decision as being both hypocritical and ideological. For example there are thousands of orphan oil wells in Alberta that have been abandoned by industry that both emit methane pollution and are capable of contaminating groundwater. While the provincial government defends it’s decision to halt renewable energy development, it’s hard to imagine a UCP government announcing a 7-month pause on oil and gas development despite there being similar and arguably far more serious concerns.

The decision to pause all new renewable energy projects in Alberta over 1 MT was announced without any warning or consultation with industry. (Picture: Jason Franson, The Canadian Press)

The decision will also have a chilling effect on jobs and investment in Alberta, in a province that prides itself on free market economics. According to the Pembina Institute, the announcement puts 91 projects worth $25 billion in investment and tens of thousands of jobs at risk. The fear is that this announcement could scare off potential future investors as well, as decisions like this create anxiety around uncertainty.

Despite being known as an oil and gas province, Alberta is actually leading Canada when it comes to renewable energy development. Part of the reason for this is due to their plentiful amounts of wind and sunshine, but also because of their unique electricity system where companies can make deals directly with private power producers to buy electricity from them. The financial security provided by the contracts helps producers build more renewable energy projects without having to worry about market risks. This differs from provinces where there is a monopoly, which is often government-owned. In this scenario the decision to build more clean energy comes solely down to that company.

Despite being known as an oil and gas province, Alberta is actually leading Canada when it comes to renewable energy development. (Picture: Robson Fletcher, CBC)

Alberta has seen steady growth in both renewable energy capacity and jobs in the past number of years, and it is on track to phasing out coal-fired electricity before its 2030 target. That being said Alberta has also seen steady growth in fossil gas generation, which is a fossil fuel that is also highly polluting and environmentally destructive. However it is only a matter of time before renewables get even cheaper and start to outcompete gas.

The announcement comes just days after the federal government announced its plans for a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. Alberta has probably been the most vocal province against this piece of legislation, along with Saskatchewan. Alberta is the biggest emitter of C02 in Canada, largely due to the oil and gas sector, which represent the largest share of emissions in Canada.

In June 2023 a Greek power company announced it will spearhead a $1.7 billion project to build 5 solar energy plants throughout Alberta. (Picture: Tom Steepe, CBC)

The energy transition is happening regardless of hurdles like this one by the Alberta government. This has as much to do with economics as it does policy; renewable energy is getting cheaper, battery storage is improving and people are looking to cheaper options to power their home or vehicle.

In an age of climate extremes, we need our political leaders to be saying we should do more to reduce emissions and address the climate crisis, not less.

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Worried about the climate crisis? Protect old growth forests

Unprotected old-growth forest in the Central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island. (T.J. Watt/Pique)

(This article originally appeared in the Squamish Chief)

B.C.’s recent heatwave smashed temperature records all over the province. Over 700 people died in three days, the majority of which were likely due to the extreme heat. That’s pretty close to half of the total number of people who have died from COVID-19 in B.C. since the start of the pandemic.

Yet we don’t have daily press conferences on the climate emergency like we did for COVID, and the climate crisis gets a fraction of the media coverage that the pandemic did.

After breaking the highest temperature record in Canada for three days in a row, topping out at 49.6 C, the town of Lytton burned to the ground.

There are currently hundreds of fires going on in B.C., and the BC Wildfire Service predicts the summer will continue to be bad for fires due to hot and dry conditions.about:blank

Experts estimate about a billion sea creatures including mussels, clams and oysters literally cooked to death in the sweltering heat.

Fruit crops in the Okanagan didn’t survive the heat either and died on their branches, leaving farmers with a huge loss of revenue

Extreme heatwaves and wildfires shouldn’t really be that surprising though, as scientists have been predicting these events would become more frequent and intense for decades. In the past scientists have been reluctant to connect any one extreme weather event to climate change, but that is starting to change.

One study showed the heat dome that engulfed B.C. and the western U.S. would have been virtually impossible if it were not for human-caused climate change. Extreme weather events from climate change are impacting people’s mental health in what is called eco-anxiety or climate grief.

One of our best defenses against climate breakdown are old-growth forests. Trees, some of which are hundreds if not thousands of years old, capture and sequester carbon. They are also wonderful sources of biodiversity, hosting a variety of plant and animal species. Logging companies point to reforestation efforts in defense of their practices, but the reality is old growth forests are irreplaceable. Plantations are monocultures that lack diversity and age differentiation between trees. As a result they are more susceptible to disease and wildfires.

With less than 3% of B.C.’s land covered in old growth forest, you would think that what little is left of our old-growth forests would be protected. False. We log more and more of our old growth forests every year in B.C.. One place this is planned is Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island. People largely with the group Rainforest Flying Squad have set up several blockades in the area for several months in an effort to stop the logging of old-growth trees. Over 370 people have been arrested to date.

If we want to protect ourselves from extreme weather events and slow the effects of climate change, we need to protect our old-growth forests. In order to do this we need to put enough pressure on the provincial government to enact logging deferrals in all areas in B.C. that have been identified as having old-growth trees. If you can, go to Fairy Creek. If you can’t, there are many other ways you can get involved. It can be as simple as calling your MLA, writing to Premier John Horgan, or donating to the cause. Go to laststandforforests.com to find out more.

What the Federal Election Results Mean for Climate Action in Canada

(Justin Trudeau at a climate rally in 2019)

Polling consistently showed the climate crisis was a top issue for voters during the federal election campaign. While the election may have been expensive and unnecessary, there was a silver bullet- it did help get the climate crisis back on the political agenda. Justin Trudeau made new commitments for policies to reduce emissions in Canada and around the world. It’s important to take note of what was said so we can hold the government accountable for their promises.

Firstly there are the things the federal government is currently doing such as the price on pollution, rebates for electric vehicles and phasing out coal-fired power plants; these are all great initiatives that are effective in reducing emissions. Then there are the things the Liberal party promised in the 2019 election but still haven’t gone through with yet because they’ve been dragging their feet.

(Global Climate Strike in Toronto, September 24, 2021). The IPCC released its sixth assessment report this year saying the vast majority of the world’s fossil fuels need to stay in the ground to have any hope of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5°C.

For instance the Liberals still plan to plant 2 billion trees like they said in 2019, although not one tree has been planted so far. A study published in the journal Nature asserts tree planting is an effective and cheap way to fight the climate crisis. The authors of the study used Google Earth to show there is enough available land mass to plant 1-1.5 trillion trees, and say doing so could help absorb 750 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere over a few decades- about 25 years worth of CO2 emitted by humans.  

Trudeau also promised a Just Transition Act in 2019 to retrain oil and gas workers in Alberta to work in the clean energy sector. A Just Transition Act is a critical piece of legislation because there will never be widespread support in Alberta for the energy transition unless there is a plan for workers after the oil and gas sector is gone. Just two weeks before the election Natural Resources Canada launched a consultation process on legislation for a just transition. 

(Workers installing rooftop solar panels). Alberta is poised to lead Canada in wind and solar power capacity by 2025.

Trudeau reiterated his pledge to end fossil fuel subsidies. A report by Environmental Defence showed Canada spent $18 billion on subsidies and other financial support for the fossil fuel industry in 2020- the highest of any G7 country. The Liberals first promised to end fossil fuel subsidies in 2015. In 2018 they pledged to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 along with other G20 countries. Now they’re speeding up the target to 2023.

Some new things the government has promised include more ambitious emissions targets of 40-45% reduction by 2030 from 2005 levels. The new target was announced before the election, but it was a key part of the Liberals’ platform. Canada has missed every emissions target it has ever set, so we need to make sure this time around we actually meet our targets. The Net-Zero Accountability Act which was recently passed will help do this as it requires the federal government to report to Parliament regularly to explain how they plan on meeting their targets and their progress in doing so.

(Photo via BC Wildfire Service). 2021 was a surreal summer for climate impacts in western Canada- devastating wildfires and record-breaking heat waves.

The government also announced an end to thermal coal exports by 2030, meaning coal used to produce electricity as opposed to making steel. This is significant because coal-fired power plants are a major source of emissions worldwide.

Lastly Trudeau said he would cap emissions from the oil and gas sector and have them decrease in 5-year increments starting in 2025. This is very important because the oil and gas sector represent the largest share of emissions in Canada at 26%, so any plan to reduce emissions without addressing it is futile. However most of the emissions are produced at the end of the process in combustion engines, so the focus needs to be on reducing production instead of technologies like carbon capture and storage. For instance when we export oil to the United States the emissions produced in that country from burning our oil needs to be accounted for.

(Oil sands site in Alberta). ‘Elephant in the room’; the oil and gas sector still account for the largest share of emissions in Canada. The transportation sector comes close behind at second.

It is up to us to make sure the government follows through on their commitments to plant 2 billion trees, pass a Just Transition Act, end fossil fuel subsidies, meet our new emissions targets, ban thermal coal exports and cap emissions from the oil and gas sector. Of course these measures don’t go far enough; there is still a lot more that needs to be done if Canada wants to do its fair share of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5°C as outlined in the Paris Agreement. Canada could go further by: banning new fossil fuel infrastructure/production; enacting carbon border adjustments by putting tariffs on imported goods coming from countries that don’t have strong climate policies; and by increasing investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and public transportation. However the measures announced by the federal government are a good start.

Ecuador

Ecuador was the last country I visited on my trip. There’s lots to do and see in this relatively small country- there’s the Andes, the Amazon, the Galapagos and the cloud forest. The highlight of many peoples’ trip to Ecuador is the Galapagos- I didn’t go because I told myself I wouldn’t fly at all on my trip besides getting to and from Canada in order to reduce my carbon footprint; and it’s also very expensive in the Galapagos. I didn’t go to the cloud forest either because I already went in Costa Rica. I wanted to spend most of time there in the highlands.

I arrived in Quito on March 2 after around 48 hours of busing from Colombia, so you could bet I was pretty exhausted. I arrived at the hostel where I would stay for a little while, and eventually come back to. It was one of my favourite hostels I stayed at: it was called Community hostel, and they really did a good job at making it feel like a community. Every night we would eat together and there would always be activities and other stuff going on to bring people together. The day after I arrived I did a walking tour of Quito. Unlike a lot of other cities I visited, Quito has a very cool climate because it is so high in elevation which makes it much more pleasant to walk around in.

The next day I did a hiking tour to Volcan Cotopaxi, one of the many volcanoes in Ecuador. We hiked up to the base of the glacier on top of the volcano. There was a basecamp there where people would stay so they could get up early and summit the glacier the next day. Some of the pictures from the summit look incredible. I would have liked to have summited some glaciers on my trip but it was hard as a solo traveller because I needed to find another group to join which wasn’t always easy. After checking out the glacier we walked back down a bit and then biked the rest of the way down the valley. We saw some llamas and wild horses on our way down. It definitely was a beautiful place.

The next day I left for a 4 day tour in the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon was something that had been on my bucket list for a while so I was glad I finally got to check it off. We arrived in Lago Agrio after taking an overnight bus from Quito, then from there we took a motorboat down the river to the lodge where we would stay the next few nights. We did a lot of boating around and trying to spot different animals. We saw lots of wildlife including monkeys, different kinds of birds, anacondas, sloths, tarantulas and river dolphins. Someone at the lodge even went fishing and caught a piranha! We also did some hiking, including a night hike to see all the spiders and other creatures that come out at night. We spotted some caimans (similar to alligators) while boating around at night. The best way to find them is by shining a flashlight as their eyes light up in the brightness. We also got to visit a local Indigenous community and meet a shaman.

After the tour we took the bus back to Community hostel in Quito. The day after I got back I went to the famous Otavalo market. There’s loads of vendors there selling woven fabrics and handmade jewellery. Saturday is its busiest day; I was there on a weekday so it was a lot quieter.

The next day I left for Latacunga to hike the Quilotoa loop trail with 2 friends that I met on the Amazon tour. The Quilotoa loop is a 4 day hike that takes you through little villages, farms and over mountains. We did it without a guide as do most people, which was a nice change. We stayed at different hostels in towns along the way. The best part of the hike was on the 3rd day when we arrived at Laguna Quilotoa, a beautiful massive crater lake. The next day we rented kayaks and went kayaking on the lake for a bit.

(Enjoying some pizza back in Latacunga after our hike)

Throughout the hike I had been following what was going on with COVID-19 and it seemed to be getting worse and worse. Around this time the Prime Minister told any Canadians abroad that they should come home while they still have the chance. It took me a couple days to think about it but it soon become apparent that I should try to get home right away or risk being stuck in Ecuador for an undetermined amount of time. I booked a flight to Toronto via Bogota the next day but they would not let me on because Colombia had just closed its borders. I stayed at a nearby hostel/hotel that night where I ran into my friend who hiked the Quiolotoa loop with me. The hotel quickly filled up with people whose flights had been cancelled and had no way home. I tried to get the same flight again the next day but no luck. So after 2 long days of waiting in line at the airport I took an uber back to the Community hostel in Quito.

Not surprisingly the hostel was filled with other travellers who were also stranded and in the same situation that I was in. I stayed there for a bit over a week and had lots of fun while I was there. My first day back to the hostel was my birthday. It was a fun day and 2 people even made a cake for me. We did lots of activities over the next week and a bit while I was there to keep ourselves busy including karaoke, card games, trivia, yoga, movie marathons, morning workouts and improv. The hostel had a rooftop with a really nice view of the city where we could go and do our yoga and workouts or just hang out and get some fresh air. Besides that we didn’t go outside at all besides to get groceries or beer. I even did a short presentation of my thesis while I was there.

Over the week, more and more people started to leave as they found flights home. I eventually got a government flight from Quito to Toronto. I flew back to Toronto on March 27- exactly 5 months after I landed in Antigua in Guatemala. I had intended on travelling for another 2 months in Peru and Bolivia after Ecuador, but obviously that didn’t happen. It was too bad in some ways because I was really looking forward to those countries, especially Peru. But at the same time I was looking forward to being able to do some things back home that I couldn’t do while travelling like cooking and playing guitar. Looking back I did a lot of things and saw a lot of places over those 5 months. I remember being a bit nervous on my flight to Guatemala; I’m proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and seeing what the world has to offer. I may go back one day and pick up where I finished off, but who knows what the future holds.

Colombia

Colombia is a country that packs a lot of punch, be it big cities, mountains or remote jungles. I spent a month in Colombia and there were still lots of places that I didn’t visit. Colombia might have a rough past, but today there are lots of good reasons to go to this country.

After arriving in Cartagena by sailboat I spent a few days exploring the city. I spent most of my time in the old city where all the historical architecture is- it’s also where you’ll find all the tourists. There is also a fort just outside the old city that the Spanish built to defend themselves from invaders. Looking back I had more than enough time there; after a few days I started feeling restless from being in a big, hot city.

After Cartagena I did the 4 day ‘Lost City’ trek in Santa Marta with two friends that were on the sailboat with me from Panama. The trek is one of the most popular things to do in Colombia and is fairly similar to the Machu Pichu trek in Peru. It takes 2 days to get to the lost city where you see the remains of an ancient Indigenous civilization. After taking a tour of the abandoned city we headed back the way we came and on the fourth day we arrived at the town where we started. We stayed at different camps along the way where there were bunk beds and a dining area to eat the food they made for us. Overall it was a great trip and definitely one of my highlights from Colombia.

After Cartagena I visited Taganga for a couple days which is a fairly short bus ride from Santa Marta. Most people go to Taganga for its diving; I did one day of diving there which was alright, but the visibility was not the best because the seas were rough at the time. There is also a national park there where all the best dive sites are, but it was closed at the time in order to allow the nature to regenerate from all the tourists. So with the visibility being average and the best dive spots closed, I decided to pack up and move on after just 1 day of diving. I did get some good pictures underwater from my divemaster though!

After Taganga I took the overnight bus down south to to San Gil. I took some sleeping pills and slept the whole bus ride. San Gil is a great spot for outdoor adventure junkies like me. When I was there I did mountain biking, bungee jumping, paragliding and whitewater rafting; bungee jumping and paragliding were definitely the highlights. The bungee I did was 70 metres high; it doesn’t last long but it’s a lot of fun. Paragliding wasn’t as big of an adrenaline rush as bungee jumping but it lasts a lot longer- about 20 minutes. I can now say I know what it feels like to fly. Mountain biking was nice but it ended up being a lot of uphill at the end- combine that with the wicked heat and it was pretty tough. Whitewater rafting was also fun but the water was pretty low so the waves weren’t super big.

After Taganga I made my way to Suesca to do some rock climbing. I hadn’t climbed the whole trip and not for a while before the trip either so I was eager to get on some rock. Normally I climb a couple times a week at home. I didn’t bring any of my climbing gear so I rented some. The hostel I stayed at was nice except for the fact that I was the only person there! That made finding a climbing partner a bit harder, so I rented a guide for 2 days. The rock there is pretty nice. The second day we did a 4-pitch multipitch. It sure felt good to climb again.

After Suesca I made my way further south to Manizales, a medium sized city. I did a day-hike in Parque Los Nevados up to one of the glaciers. It was pretty foggy at the top so we couldn’t see much. It was also pretty cold because the elevation is so much higher. On the way down it started pouring raining and by the time I got to the bottom I was soaked and freezing. It wasn’t my favourite hike I did on my trip.

I then went to Salento which is pretty close to Manizales. Salento is a nice town; it’s a lot smaller than Manizales. I went there because that is where I would start my 3 day trek in Parque Los Nevados up to a different glacier. The first day we hiked up to a family farm/hostel where we we would sleep- it got very cold at night there. The next day it cleared up and we had a great view of the glacier from the farm. We then hiked to the bottom of the glacier where we had a nice lunch and then hiked back down to the farm and slept a second night. The third day we hiked out a different way and got a ride back to Salento. Fortunately we didn’t get any rain over the 3 days. The landscape was very unique and beautiful there.

That’s all for Colombia. It took me 48 hours by bus to get from Salento to Quito, Ecuador- the last country from my trip.

 

 

Costa Rica & Panama

I spent about a month in Costa Rica and Panama- 2 weeks in Costa Rica and 2 weeks in Panama. Two weeks was not nearly enough to see everything in Costa Rica, so I had to pick and choose which places I wanted to go. I decided to budget less time from my trip for Costa Rica in part because it’s a lot more expensive there, and so I could have ample time in other countries in South America.

Arriving in Costa Rica was a bit of a culture shock at first as it’s a lot more touristy and developed than other countries in Central America. It’s also a bit more civilized there; there’s no chicken buses for instance, just regular public buses. My first destination in Costa Rica was La Fortuna which was filled with good restaurants, tourist agencies and souvenir shops. It was nice to have the variety of dining options because by this point in the trip I was getting really tired of the food down there. While I was in La Fortuna I did the popular hike to Volcan Arenal: we had a really nice day so we had a great view of the volcano, and we saw some wildlife too. I liked the guides in Costa Rica as they were all really knowledgable about local wildlife, and they all spoke good English too. I saw sloths for the first time in La Fortuna, and coati (below). I also went whitewater rafting and visited a local swimming hole where there was a ropeswing.

My next destination was Monteverde. There is a lake between La Fortuna and Monteverde so you can take the ‘bus-boat-bus’ option to get there, or you can go around. Going around is cheaper, but it’s more fun and quicker to go by lake which is very scenic. Monteverde is a lot different than La Fortuna as it is much smaller and quieter. Most people go to Monteverde to visit the cloud forest reserve where you have a good chance of seeing the iconic quetzel bird. I visited the Monteverde reserve as well as another park called Santa Elena which is sort of like a smaller/less busy version of Monteverde. I didn’t hire any guides when I was there, so I didn’t see a lot of wildlife. I went ziplining there and there were two things that made it really fun: first is they have a giant ropeswing where you stand on a platform up really high and they strap you on to a big tarzan rope, then they let you go for a massive swing. You swing back and forth twice, and on the second time back there are two people on a lower platform that grab you so you don’t get stuck in the air. Second thing is they have a ‘superman’ zipline at the end, where you put your harness on backwards and go down headfirst over a massive valley. I also did some exploring around town and found a local climbing gym.

After Monteverde I started to make my way to Tortugero in the Carribean, just south of the Nicaraguan border. I had to go to San Jose first where I stayed the night to catch my bus to Tortugero the next day. Like most capital cities in Central America, San Jose isn’t particularly glamorous. After taking the bus from San Jose you have to catch the boat to Tortugero via the river, as there are no roads in and out of the town. Tortugero is described as a ‘mini Amazon’ for its spectacular biodiversity. I went canoeing and hiking there and saw lots of wildlife including crocodiles, birds, monkeys and sloths. A lot of people come to Tortugero to see sea turtles, however I was there outside their nesting season so I didn’t see any.

After Tortugero my next destination was Puerto Viejo, also on the Caribbean side but closer to Panama. Puerto Viejo is a fun surf town with lots of bars and restaurants. I got to see some live music there and even a guy with fire sticks. I rented a bike and biked up and down the highway, visiting Cahuita just to the north. It was very rainy when I was in Costa Rica; I think it rained almost every day I was there.

After Puerto Viejo I made my way to Bocas del Toro in Panama, an island in the Caribbean. It was similar to Puerto Viejo, lots of bars and restaurants and surfing. I rented a bike there as well and biked around the island, and I got to watch a bit of a surf comp which was pretty cool. The swell was massive at the time from all the storms so the waves were huge. I did one day of diving there and I went surfing for the first and only time on my trip; it had been a few years since I last surfed.

After Puerto Viejo I took the boat back to the mainland, and from there I took the bus to a hostel called the Lost and Found hostel which is owned by two Canadians. It was probably my favourite hostel I stayed at on my entire trip. To get there you get dropped off along the highway and it’s a tough 20 minute hike uphill to the hostel where they have a sweet view of the valley. On the drive there it started to get more mountainous for the first time on my trip; there are volcanoes all over Central America, but for the most part it is very flat. The climate was noticeably cooler too which was a nice change. There was lots to do at the hostel: you can easily catch a bus to a local swimming hole or waterfall. There are also scavenger hunts they set up which are all based off a mystery thriller book written about a man who travelled to Panama- the hostel is named after this book. The scavenger hunt I did takes you on all the trails around the hostel and eventually leads you back to the hostel where you have to decipher a puzzle in order to answer the last question. If you answer the question correctly you get a free drink at the bar where they had ping pong and pool.

Afterwards I headed to Panama City where I spent a couple days exploring, and visited the Panama Canal. While I was technically in Panama for about 2 weeks, 5 days of this was on my sailing trip from Panama to Colombia. So I was only on the mainland in Panama for about a week or more. I hadn’t heard much about Panama before arriving there, and while I would say there’s not a lot to see there, there’s definitely some spots worth checking out.

A while before arriving in Panama City I had booked a sailing trip from Panama to Colombia which is a popular way for people to get from one continent to the other. It is more expensive than flying, but it’s a good way to see the ocean and explore the San Blas islands (and emits a lot less carbon). The first 4 days of the trip are spent island hopping; there are Indigenous people who live on some of the larger islands. We got to do a bit of snorkelling around the islands and we had a bonfire one night. On the fourth day after dinner we departed for the open sea crossing which is 36 hours. I didn’t sleep too well the first night because I wasn’t used to the waves. The next day a lot of people were seasick, and there wasn’t much to do besides lie around and wait it out. I slept better the second night, and when I woke up we had arrived in Cartagena. he bigger round the islands and had a bonfire on one of the islands one night. After 4

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I officially made it t So

So I officially made it to South America after 3 months in Central America! Stay tuned for Colombia. t

So I officially made it to South America after 3 months in Central America. Stay tuned for Colombia. tuth America after 3 months in Central America. Stay tuned for Colombia. So I officially made it to South America after 3 months in Central America. Stay tuned for Colombia. kkkkk ejj

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a popular backpacker destination and for good reason- there’s lots to do and see there, whether it’s historical cities, volcanoes, beaches… I spent about a month in the country and visited all the most popular spots.

My first destination in Nicaragua was Leon. One of the most popular things to do in Leon is volcano boarding down a nearby volcano. Every single day busloads of tourists hike up the volcano (which is very active) carrying their sleds so they can ride back down. At first it looks very intimidating because it is steep, but you can control how fast or slow you want to go with your feet. For our group they recorded all of our speeds to see who was the fastest. The slowest person got a big bucket of ice water dumped on them, like people did during the the ALS #IceBucketChallenge. I also volunteered to plant some fruit trees at a local school in Leon which was a neat experience. Fruit trees provide the kids with shade when they are outside, it gives them a healthy snack when they are hungry, and of course trees clean the air by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and producing oxygen. Afterwards we got to play soccer with the kids which was fun. I also hiked up Volcan Telica where there is a big furnace at the top that reeks of sulphur. We also got to watch the sunset and have a campfire afterwards. There were also some nearby beaches to Leon that our hostel would organize buses to, which was nice because it got very hot in Leon during the day.

A couple hours on the bus south of Leon is Granada. Granada is the oldest city in Central America, which is not surprising to learn if you’ve seen the architecture there. The city was very lively too. One night on our way out to dinner we stumbled upon a big arm wrestling competition outside, which was a bizarre thing to see. They had legit referees dressed up and a crowd of people watching and cheering them on. Where we ate there were a bunch of tables outside from different restaurants, and there were some guys doing some really impressive break-dancing for everybody to see. I visited Volcan Masaya near Granada, which looks a bit like Mordor. You drive right up to the top of the volcano where there is a parking lot, and from there you can look down into the big crater of bubbling lava. People were sacrificed there back in the day, and people were brought there to see what ‘hell’ looks like.

Next was Ometepe. Ometepe is a big island in Nicaragua, except unlike the other islands I went too it’s not surrounded by ocean; it’s on a massive lake- Lake Ometepe. It’s about an hour ferry ride to get there from the mainland. The island is really nice, it was probably my favourite spot in Nicaragua. There are two volcanoes on the island that you can see from the mainland- Volcan Conception and Volcan Maderas. I climbed both of them, but unfortunately we had cloudy weather on both the volcano hikes so we couldn’t see much. There is a big crater at the top of Conception, and a lake at the top of Maderas; we couldn’t see the crater or the lake because of the fog. I also visited a waterfall when I was there and rented scooters for the day. Scooters are an easy and fun way to get around the island.

Next was San Juan del Sur, which is a little surf town on the Pacific. While I didn’t do any surfing in the few days I was there, I did go to the infamous ‘Sunday Funday’ party, which is probably the town’s biggest tourist draw. Sunday Funday is a big party organized by one of the hostels that starts in the morning and goes all day long. You go to three different hostels and a nightclub. The hostel that organizes it has a really nice pool and a sweet view of the ocean and town. There’s also a Jesus statue in San Juan that I visited.

Next on my list was Little Corn Island all the way on the Caribbean side. It was quite the journey to get there. From San Juan I made my way back to Granada and spent Christmas at Laguna de Apoyo, a big lake in a crater of a volcano. Then from there I took a short bus to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Managua is anything but glamorous. Tourists don’t go there unless they have to, and for good reason. At times it felt like I was in the states, with their big shopping malls and McDonalds. Although I did see the new Star Wars film there in the mall. I spent a night in Managua and caught the bus to Bluefields the next day- about a 10 hour bus ride. By this point in my trip I had stopped taking tourist shuttles and started taking local transportation. In Central America they have what are called ‘chicken buses’, which are old retrofitted school buses. They get their name from people bringing chickens or other livestock on the bus, although I never saw this. They stop for anyone and they have no maximum capacity; I’ve been on some very packed chicken buses before. Not only is taking local transportation much cheaper, it’s also a great opportunity to meet locals and practice your Spanish as I learned. It’s also just more fun and adventurous. I stayed in Bluefields for a night and then got the ferry to Big Corn Island the next day- about a 3 hour boat ride. The boat was packed with people. I had heard horror stories about the boat where everybody got seasick, so I was a bit worried. Fortunately the weather was fine and the waves weren’t too big at all. Then from Big Corn to Little Corn you have to take the panga (small speedboat)- about half an hour. I had also heard this can get very rough but again fortunately it wasn’t bad for us. Then I arrived on Little Corn (finally)!

Little Corn was pretty cool. Like Utila, there are no big resorts or vacation homes there. There is no motorized transportation on the island at all; the island is so small, you can walk across it in half an hour, or bike around the whole island in probably about the same time. There is some really nice beaches all around the island, and some really good restaurants with locally caught seafood. I did lots of diving when I was there. The diving was really impressive and was better than anything I did in Utila. I saw reef sharks for the first time, huge stingrays and eagle rays, eels and even 3 little dolphins. I spent New Years on the island.

That’s all for Nicaragua! Next up- Costa Rica.

This Earth Day, Let’s Remind Ourselves of the Other Curves We Need to Flatten Too

Today is Earth Day: a day to honour our planet and all that it does for us. But this year it is special; it is the 50th anniversary.

The first Earth Day took place in the United States on April 22, 1970. The idea came from US Senator Gaylord Nelson. Inspired by the anti-war movement at the time, he decided on a national day for the environment after witnessing the devastating impacts of an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. There were thousands of events organized across the country in cities, elementary schools, high schools and on campuses including everything from going to lectures to planting trees to attending a demonstration. An astonishing 20 million Americans- 10% of the population at the time- participated in some way or another.

April 22, 1970 was an historic day. Environmentalism had entered the mainstream public consciousness; or so it seemed. The next few years would see sweeping environmental legislation and institutionalism form in the country. 1970 saw the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the passing of the Clean Air Act. In the following years the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act would be passed. In 1972, the harmful pesticide DDT was banned for industrial use in the US due to environmental and human health impacts, thanks in large part to Rachel Carson and her publication Silent Spring. It seemed as if the times were-a-changin‘- for now.

The world currently looks a bit different than it did 50 years ago. Mass gatherings like the one above seem almost unthinkable now. Like many events nowadays, an Earth Day livestream is being broadcast online. There will be speakers and performing artists including Al Gore, Jack Johnson and Bill McKibben.

A lot has changed since the first Earth Day, and a lot, sadly, hasn’t. These days there is a lot of talk about ‘flattening the curve’. And rightly so: we all need to do our part to flatten the curve by practicing physical distancing and staying home as much as possible. There are notably two other curves that we have failed to flatten as a society long before the coronavirus: the rate of carbon emissions from humans and the rate of species extinction on the planet have both skyrocketed since the industrial revolution. Both these trends will have profound impacts on human populations, yet before the virus started these issues were getting a fraction of the media coverage compared to what the coronavirus is getting now.

Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 

Like the coronavirus, our effectiveness in being able to flatten the curve of carbon emissions is a matter of life and death for many people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates about 7 million people die every year from air pollution: 4.2 million from outdoor air pollution and 3.8 million from indoor air pollution. An estimated 91% of people live in areas where air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits. That is a public health emergency if you ask me. On top of that, a study by researchers at Harvard University showed air pollution is causing higher mortality rates for people with the coronavirus. In fact if the air had been cleaner before the pandemic, thousands of lives could have already been saved.

In 2014, the World Health Organization estimated that around 250,000 people a year could die from climate change between 2030 and 2050 due to things like disease, famine and extreme weather events- all of which are predicted to get worse under a warming planet. Last year one of the co-authors of the WHO study reviewed the research and decided 250,000 was a “conservative estimate”; he predicts the number could be much higher. Additionally, climate change could force 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 due to things like food shortages and water scarcity due to drought.

The climate is currently at a tipping point. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we have just 10 years to drastically reduce our emissions in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. If we don’t reduce our emissions quickly, coral reefs won’t survive, millions of people will be displaced from rising seas, freshwater resources will become more and more scarce. We are also approaching the point where the earth can no longer mitigate the effects of climate change and the problem is being exacerbated by what is called positive feedback loops. The oceans could lose their ability to absorb carbon because warmer water cannot hold as much dissolved CO2 as colder water, rainforests become carbon sources instead of carbon sinks as they dry up, massive amounts of methane is released from melting permafrost in the Arctic and decreasing sea ice and glaciers in the north and southern hemispheres means more of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the planet as opposed to reflected back out to space. It’s a recipe for disaster.

In addition to carbon emissions, the rate of species extinction has also skyrocketed in the past few hundred years. Scientists estimate we are losing around 150-200 species every single day- about 1000x faster than the natural rate of extinction. As a result we are currently in the planet’s sixth mass extinction event in what is now the Holocene era. The Earth has had 5 mass extinction events before, the last one taking place at least 65 million years ago, resulting in the demise of the dinosaurs. It is important to note that there is a strong relationship between the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis: a study released this year from researchers at the University of Arizona showed 1/3 of all species could go extinct in 50 years from climate change. Other reasons for biodiversity loss include habitat destruction and pollution. Similar to climate change, humans are vulnerable to the impacts of declining biodiversity: we are dependant on ecosystems for things like purifying our water, producing oxygen, pollinating our crops or providing fish to eat. A study in the journal Nature estimates the value of ecosystem services at around $33 trillion annually.

Source: Study published in the journal Science Advances (described by the authors as a “highly conservative estimate”).

Flattening the curves of carbon emissions and species extinction won’t be easy by any means, but what the coronavirus has showed us is that large-scale mobilization on a global scale is possible. It has even been described as a ‘war time effort’, which is exactly the kind of determination we will need to fight the climate crisis. That is in essence, what the Green New Deal is. The Green New Deal is a massive stimulus program put forward by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey that would fast-track the transition to renewable energy and radically reduce emissions, while also addressing social issues like wealth inequality. The program would create millions of jobs by investing large amounts of money into renewable energy, energy conservation and public transportation. The legislation is modelled after the ‘New Deal’, an economic and social reform program designed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to help restart the economy in response to the Great Depression.

In order to fight the coronavirus and save lives, we often hear about making sacrifices for the common good. It is a narrative that comes up again and again in the media and from politicians. Climate change is quite the opposite to the coronavirus in that young people are most at risk, but similarly we should expect sacrifices made for us from older people. Yet time and time again our political leaders have shown us they are not willing to make sacrifices for future generations. They have shown us this by investing $12 billion into the construction of a new oil pipeline or $275 million to build a new gas plant, instead of spending that money on renewable energy. They have shown that they are only willing to make minor changes to their business-as-usual agenda, that they will listen to the advice of medical experts but blatantly ignore the echoing warnings from climate scientists for decades.

I know times like these are tough; many people don’t even want to think about things like climate change with all that’s going on. But the reality is it is not going away. Justin Trudeau even said it himself: “Just because we’re in one crisis right now doesn’t mean we can forget about the other one- the climate crisis we are facing as a world and as a country”. I don’t think I’m alone when I say I want to imagine a better world after this all over. If we wanted to, we could pass our own Green New Deal here in Canada to transform Alberta’s energy sector and put thousands of Canadians to work. In the meantime, we can start at home. You can honour Earth Day in whichever way you like- whether it be baking bread, planting a garden or listening to David Attenborough on BBC. That way we can all be a part of the change we want to see.

 

Honduras

Honduras may not be top of mind for a lot of backpackers. It’s dodgy reputation and lack of tourist spots tends to keep a lot of visitors at bay; many only see the country from inside their shuttle bus from Guatemala to Nicaragua. If you want to get away from tourists and venture off the beaten track however, this is the place to go.

If you’re going to go anywhere in Honduras, it’s probably Utila- my first destination. Utila is a small island in the Caribbean, and to get there you have to take the ferry from La Ceiba. It was about an hour boat ride, and we had a nice view of the setting sun over the water.

The main reason to go to Utila is for diving; there’s not much else to do there. It is actually one of the cheapest places in the world to scuba dive. The first thing that happens when you get off the boat is you are greeted by people handing you brochures trying to sell you their dive shop. I eventually settled on a place and started my 5 day Open Water certification course. The course begins with about 5 hours of videos and reading and answering questions in the textbook. We then learn about the gear and how to use it and set it up. Next we wade into the water and try breathing underwater for the first time with the respirator, which was so weird! It feels really unnatural at first, but you get used to it. Then we start to go a bit deeper in the water and practice some scenarios like take my goggles off underwater and put them back on, take my respirator out of my mouth and put it back, switch to my buddy’s alternate respirator- preparing for things that could potentially happen underwater. Then we got to do some actual diving; exploring the reef for the first time is really cool. It’s like a different world down there, I saw all kinds of fish and coral formations I had never seen before.

After I finished my Open Water course I went on to do my Advanced dive course for which we covered navigation, buoyancy, fish ID, as well as the wreck dive, deep dive and night dive. For navigation we practiced orienteering with a compass and using natural formations underwater as bearings. For buoyancy we practiced being able to control how much we sink or float with our breath: when you breath in you rise as your lungs fill with air, and when you exhale you sink as your lungs empty. You can adjust your buoyancy by adding or taking away air from your vest and by adding more or less weight to your weight-belt beforehand. We had to do things like swim through a hoop and hit a rock on the ground with our respirator without touching the bottom. For fish ID we recorded some fish we saw underwater and tried to ID them afterwards. For the deep dive we went down to 30 metres. With the Open Water certification the deepest you can go is 18 metres- with the Advanced it is 30. As you go down you have to equalize- plug your nose and blow into it so that your ears don’t blow from the pressure. When we got down to 30 metres we explored what was my first shipwreck, which was a really neat experience. Shipwrecks have a really eery feeling to them. They become their own ecosystem in a way: algae grows on them, fish start living in them. The night dive was pretty straightforward; everyone carries a flashlight and dives like normal- except it’s dark. There’s less to see in terms of marine life because most of the fish are dormant at that time (they have to sleep too!), but it adds a whole new feeling to the experience which makes it a lot of fun.

I don’t have any pictures underwater unfortunately, but I did get some in Colombia (stay tuned).

Me on the night dive:

On the boat:

About to backroll in:

Fish ID page:

Utila itself is also a fun place to be. I was there in low season, so it was fairly quiet, but I could imagine in high season it would be very lively. Even still I had lots of fun. The main drag is lined with restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs. The variety of people there means the food options are good- I remember having a buddha bowl in a hipster cafe and a shawarma at a lebanese restaurant. And of course the seafood was great. Utila is not exactly somewhere you go for a cultural experience of Honduras. The place has been taken over by expats and tourists; there’s more English spoken than there is Spanish- which is fine. You go to Utila for the cheap diving and shenanigans, not the culture.

The main street in Utila:

View from the hostel:

 

If you’re going to go anywhere in Honduras besides Utila, there’s a good chance it’s Copan. Copan is a small colonial town lined with cobblestone streets and surrounded by coffee and chocolate plantations. It is most well known for Copan Ruinas, but there is lots to do and see in Copan besides that. In addition to the ruins, when I was there I went horseback riding, visited a bird rehabilitation centre and visited a local chocolate/coffee shop.

View from the hostel:

 

My last destination in Honduras was the D&D Brewery. The brewery/hostel was in a nice forested area and was a perfect place for people who want to split up the long drive from Utila to Leon in Nicaragua. When I was there I went hiking, visited a waterfall and went for a really nice kayak on Lake Yojoa. We also explored a bit of the nearby town, not that there was much to see. There were very little tourists there, and the locals were really friendly. The most memorable part of my time there was definitely the kayaking; the lake was beautiful and we saw tons of different kinds of birds. We also got an early start while the water was still really calm and before it got too hot which really helped.

That’s a wrap for Honduras. Next up- Nicaragua.