Posts by Charles Lin
Resilience and Climate Action: Building Islands of Coherence in a Sea of Chaos
What are “Islands of coherence in a sea of chaos”? Ilya Prigogine, who was awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is credited with the expression “When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire…
Read MoreShould I Be Concerned about El Niño and the 2026 Summer?
What is El Niño? El Niño in Spanish means “boy child”, and was first used several hundred years ago by fishermen in Peru and Ecuador to refer to the unusually warm waters that reduced their catch just before Christmas. Today, El Niño refers to the warming of patches of water…
Read MoreHousehold Food Waste in Canada
“Canadians are throwing out more food than they realize” The National Zero Waste Council did research on food waste in Canadian households, and reported their findings at Love Food Hate Waste using this quote. The average household throws away 140 kg of food a year, food that could have been…
Read MoreEnergy Affordability and Ontario Energy Board Decision
The OEB (Ontario Energy Board) is Ontario’s independent energy regulator, and oversees the operation of energy companies to ensure the public interest is served. Enbridge Gas is Canada’s largest natural gas utility, serving about 75% of Ontario’s population. In December 2023, OEB issued a decision to remove the subsidy to…
Read MoreCarbon Accountability: Institutionalizing Governance, a Carbon Budget and an Offset Credits Policy
City Council and Item 2023.IE3.4 City Council adopted this Item on May 10, 2023, which establishes a carbon budgeting and accountability framework. This is an important step to help steer the City to reach net zero by 2040. We present here a summary of the main points of the Item,…
Read MoreTransformTO 2022 Annual Report: Laying the Foundation for Net Zero
City Council adopted Item 2023.IE3.3 on May 10, 2023, which prepares the City to get to net zero following its plan. This decision is a good first step, and the heavy lifting lies ahead. We present here a summary of the main points of the Item, and our take and…
Read MoreAdoption of electric vehicles in Canada and net zero
Electric vehicles (EVs), including battery and plug-in hybrid versions, offer a promising way to reduce emissions. In this article, we examine how Canada has adopted the use of EVs and the implications for its net zero goal. How much would EVs contribute towards net zero in Canada? The transport sector…
Read More“Don’t look up” – A film with a climate change message
“Don’t look up” is a film that Netflix started streaming at the end of December 2021, and is a satire on how our society is reacting to the threat of climate change. It has an all-star cast and has established record viewership at Netflix. What is the movie about? The…
Read MoreDevastating recent floods in British Columbia
Record rainfall caused by atmospheric rivers hit southern British Columbia (BC) in late November 2021, leading to flooding and mudslides as rivers and streams overflowed, damaging farms and homes, and washing away roads, bridges and railways. We examine in this article the meteorological driver of this disaster, its social and…
Read MoreCOP26 and its outcomes – why are they important?
The recently concluded international UN climate change conference COP26 (26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties) was held in Glasgow, UK from October 31 to November 13, 2021. Canada was one of the 197 participating country members. We summarize the key outcomes of the conference and Canada’s commitments. Why…
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