What Ottawa’s job cuts may mean for oil spills and forecasts

We hear you. Plastic is “upsetting, confusing, enraging.” But Judith Enck says there’s hope. The Beyond Plastics founder says people and policy makers are finally clueing in to the toxins in these products. We hear about efforts to hammer out an international treaty to curb plastics production and pollution. And, there’s been a key Canadian court ruling on banning single-use plastics.

Mark Carney’s plan to shrink the civil service means slashing more than 800 jobs at Environment and Climate Change Canada. A retired scientist says this includes her colleagues who study the impact of microplastics, toxic chemicals and oil on wildlife. And a union president says the cuts could gut human expertise in weather forecasting, too, leaving Canadians more vulnerable to climate extremes.

Since January 2025, it’s cost about nine bucks USD to drive in downtown New York City during peak times. A year later, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is heralding the policy as a success, with fewer cars downtown, a drop in pollution and even less honking. Alexa Sledge with Transportation Alternatives tells us about the policy’s progress to date. Then – we check in with Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite about worries that his community may be facing unintended consequences as a result of the pricing.

Skier Marion Thénault wants Winter Olympic gold. She also wants a cooler planet. That means training hard but doing it in a way that cuts her own emissions. And calling on sports federations to do their part. We discover what else needs to change to ensure the winter games survive in a warming world – including keeping the competition to a select few cities – including Calgary. 

As Hurricane Irma approached, doula Esther Louis helped a nine-months-pregnant client flee Florida to find safety in Georgia. At the time, she thought she was just being a “compassionate human being.” But that experience back in 2017 helped her recognize how people in her profession can help expectant families stay safe as the impacts of climate change accelerate. Esther tells us about a new program that’s training other doulas to do just that. Then, we hear how the warming planet is posing a growing danger for newborns worldwide.

Resignations. Calls for a hiatus. The expert group tasked with helping Ottawa cut emissions faces an existential crisis. We hear from Catherine Abreu, who quit the Net Zero Advisory Body, because it wasn’t consulted about the federal government’s pipeline deal with Alberta. Meanwhile Michael Bernstein, one of the few remaining advisors, says the group can balance climate policy with political reality, but it needs a reset first.

Warming temperatures mean more rats. Is rodent birth control part of the solution? Join us on the streets of Manhattan, Chicago and Vancouver as producer Molly Segal meets the people trying to stop rats from overtaking our world. 

If you're a frequent flier, you may have noticed flights have been getting bumpier lately. A potential culprit? Climate change. CBC producer Julia Pagel finds out how warming temperatures are making air turbulence worse, and what can be done about it. But first, she takes us back to 2019, when dozens of passengers were injured after an Air Canada flight bound for Australia hit severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing. 

Even as the world warms, oil attracts conflict. Just look to Venezuela and Donald Trump’s moves to control the country’s vast reserves. We delve into the history of "petro-imperialism” and ask whether a planet powered by renewables would be any more peaceful.

From the Best of What On Earth – in remote northern communities, diesel is king. But breakthrough solar energy projects are underway that could begin to reduce fossil fuel reliance. We’re taking you to Nunavut where people are adding solar panels to small off-grid cabins and others are working on community-scale solar projects — so the diesel generators can finally be turned off and communities can hear silence once again, like their ancestors did.