Environment: 1)Severe weather caused more than $2.4B in insured losses in 2025: insurance bureau; 2)Environment: How will climate change reshape the Winter Olympics? The list of possible host sites is shrinking; 3)Things to know about the High Seas Treaty as it takes effect; 4)Blasting heat at home and still freezing? There are easy fixes to save money and stay warm

1)Severe weather caused more than $2.4B in insured losses in 2025: insurance bureau

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, January 21, 2026

Insured damages caused by severe weather last year topped $2.4 billion, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says.

According to calculations by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc., the March ice storm in Ontario and Quebec topped the list of most expensive weather events in 2025, followed by May wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and storms across the Prairies in August.

Flooding in southern British Columbia and parts of Alberta added to insured damage totals last year.

The bureau said 2025 is the tenth costliest year on record for weather-related losses in Canada.

“Severe weather events continue to intensify,” said IBC president and chief executive Celyeste Power in a news release.

She said two decades ago, insured damages seldom exceeded $500 million per year. But now, annual costs of weather events surpassing the billion-dollar mark have become the norm.

“This shift demands that we fundamentally rethink how we build, plan and restore communities across our country,” she said.

Power said the country needs to integrate household resiliency against severe weather, which will be more cost-effective than paying to rebuild after every disaster.

Annual insured damages due to severe weather between 2006 and 2015 totalled $14 billion, adjusted for inflation, the bureau said. That nearly tripled to $37 billion between 2016 and 2025.

Weather-related insured losses last year were significantly lower than the damages recorded in 2024, which hit a record high of $9.4 billion in 2025 dollars. A slew of weather events racked up damage totals in 2024 including the Jasper, Alta., wildfires, flash floods in the Greater Toronto Area, a hailstorm in Calgary and remnants of hurricane Debby in Quebec.

The second most expensive year for insured losses was 2016 at $6.5 billion, in 2025 dollars, when devastating wildfires tore through Fort McMurray, Alta.

2)Environment: How will climate change reshape the Winter Olympics? The list of possible host sites is shrinking

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press
By Jennifer McDermott and Pat Graham, January 18, 2026

Belgian biathlete Maya Cloetens can’t help but think about the future of winter sports as she trains for next month’s Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

Evidence of climate change is all around her in the mountains above Grenoble, France, where the 24-year-old fell in love with the sport that combines cross-country skiing and shooting.
Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics, but its winters are shorter and milder nowadays, and with less consistent heavy snowfall. When the games return to the French Alps in 2030, Grenoble won’t be the focal point.

“I grew up there, and I really see the difference of snow,” Cloetens said. “In 15 years, it has completely changed.”

With the Earth warming at a record rate, the list of locales that could reliably host a Winter Games will shrink substantially in the coming years, according to researchers. The situation is serious enough that the International Olympic Committee is considering rotating the games among a permanent pool of suitable locations and holding them earlier in the season because March is getting too warm for the Paralympic Games, said Karl Stoss, who chairs the games’ Future Host Commission.

Dwindling hosts
Out of 93 mountain locations that currently have the winter sports infrastructure to host elite competition, only 52 should have the snow depth and sufficiently cold temperatures to be able to host a Winter Olympics in the 2050s, according research conducted by University of Waterloo professor Daniel Scott and University of Innsbruck associate professor Robert Steiger that the IOC is using. The number could drop to as low as 30 by the 2080s, depending on how much the world curbs carbon dioxide pollution.

And, the IOC prioritizes locations with at least 80% existing venues, making the pool of potential hosts significantly smaller.

The situation is bleaker for the Paralympic Winter Games, which are typically held at the same venues two weeks after the Winter Olympics conclude. However, Scott said he and Steiger found that starting both sets of games about three weeks earlier would almost double the number of reliable locations for the Paralympic Games. Their modeling presumes advanced snowmaking, finding that there are almost no locations that could reliably host the snow sports without snowmaking by mid-century.

Grenoble isn’t the only past host that the researchers believe won’t be “climate reliable” enough to do it again by the 2050s. Chamonix, France, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and Sochi, Russia, also didn’t make the cut, while past venues in Vancouver, Canada; Palisades Tahoe, California; Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and Oslo, Norway, would be “climatically risky.”

“Climate change is going to change the geography of where we can hold the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics. There’s no question,” Scott said. “The only question is, how much?”
Relying on snowmaking, for now

Manufactured snow was first used for the Winter Games in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York. Beijing was the first to rely almost entirely on snowmaking in 2022.

For these Olympics, the organizing committee plans to make nearly 2.4 million cubic meters (3.1 million cubic yards) of snow. In contrast, when Cortina hosted the 1956 Olympics, no manufactured snow was used, though the Italian army did transport truckloads of snow down from the Dolomites.
The Italian company supplying nearly all of the new snowmaking systems, TechnoAlpin, developed technology to make snow in temperatures well above freezing. The company said it sent its “SnowFactory” to Antholz — the biathlon site — to guarantee sufficient snow cover.

Davide Cerato oversees snowmaking operations at several Olympic venues. With the newest systems, he said, they can make a lot of snow, efficiently, even at marginal snowmaking temperatures— for the moment.
“But I don’t know in the future,” he said.

Northern Italy is known for its cold, snowy winters. But seasonal snowfall has reduced considerably throughout the Alpine region, with the sharpest declines mainly over the last 40 years due to the temperature increase.

Italian climatologist Luca Mercalli recalls looking at the Alps from his home in Turin, Italy, 50 years ago and seeing the mountains white with snow from late October until June. Now, he often sees gray.

Snowmaking has its limits

One of the foremost experts on building a ski racing course is Wyoming rancher Tom Johnston. To him, manufactured snow is preferable over what Mother Nature can deliver – with one caveat.
“I need her colder temps,” Johnston said.

Traditional snowmaking equipment requires cold temperatures and low humidity. Europe is the fastest-warming continent.

It takes an immense about of energy and water to make snow. That can make climate change worse if the electricity is supplied by burning fossil fuels and can exacerbate water issues in regions where it’s scarce. For Milan Cortina, electricity partner Enel is guaranteeing entirely renewable and certified electricity.
The organizing committee estimates needing 250 million gallons (946 million liters) of water, the equivalent of nearly 380 Olympic swimming pools, for snowmaking. It carved out new high-elevation water reservoirs, or lakes, to store it.

“Without water, there are no Games,” said Carmen de Jong, a University of Strasbourg hydrology professor.
She is critical of building reservoirs that alter the natural ecosystem, though sees no solution— the appetite for artificial snow will only increase due to climate change.

Planning for the future

Events like the Olympics draw participants and fans from around the world and have always contributed to climate change. Many people fly there, new venues are built and a lot of electricity is used to power them, emitting vast amounts of carbon pollution.

Recognizing this, the IOC is requiring hosts to minimize their water and electricity use and avoid unnecessary construction. It may need to eventually reduce the number of sports, athletes and spectators who attend, said Stoss, the Future Host Commission chair.

As the leading organization for sport, Stoss said, it’s the IOC’s responsibility to show how to protect winter sports for the long term.

The IOC picked the French Alps for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Salt Lake City, Utah for 2034. It’s talking exclusively with Switzerland about 2038. Stoss said he likes Switzerland because of its existing infrastructure and excellent public transportation.

He said this is the future, choosing countries with good conditions and high standards for protecting the climate. He praised Milan-Cortina for using mostly existing venues and reducing the games’ environmental impact.

Diana Bianchedi, the organizing committee’s chief strategy, planning and legacy officer, said that from the very beginning, they sought to model a more sustainable future, both for the Olympic movement and for larger social transformation.

“This is the point,” she said, “where we have to change.”

3)Things to know about the High Seas Treaty as it takes effect

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Annika Hammerschlag, January 17, 2026

The world’s first legally binding agreement to protect marine life in international waters took effect Saturday, marking a historic moment for ocean conservation after nearly two decades of negotiations.

The High Seas Treaty will govern nearly half the planet’s surface – the vast ocean areas beyond any country’s control. These waters face mounting threats from destructive fishing practices, shipping, plastic pollution, overfishing and potential deep sea mining, all compounded by climate change. The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, making its health critical for addressing the climate crisis.

The treaty entered into force 120 days after it reached the threshold of ratification by 60 countries in September. As of Friday, 83 countries had ratified it, including the recent addition of major maritime powers such as China and Japan.

The treaty creates the first framework for establishing Marine Protected Areas on the high seas, which make up about two-thirds of the world’s ocean. Currently, only around 1% of these international waters are protected.

Immediate obligations for countries

From Saturday, ratifying countries must begin working together on ocean science and technology as well as help developing nations build capacity to participate in ocean governance. Companies planning activities that could harm marine life must conduct environmental impact assessments that meet the treaty’s standards. Those conducting research on ocean organisms that could be used commercially, such as for new medicines, must notify other countries and share their findings.

Perhaps most significantly, countries must now promote the treaty’s conservation goals when they participate in other international bodies that regulate ocean activities, such as regional fisheries organizations, the International Maritime Organization and the International Seabed Authority.

While key institutions like the treaty’s secretariat and scientific body are still being developed, countries can begin preparing proposals for Marine Protected Areas immediately. Potential sites include the Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific, the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic and the Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges off South America.

Pressure to act quickly

Conservationists warn governments must act quickly to achieve the global goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 – a target scientists say is critical for ocean health. Because the high seas make up such a vast portion of the oceans, their protection is essential to reaching that goal.

“The marine protected areas under the treaty will only be as strong as the governments make them,” said Megan Randles, global political lead for Greenpeace’s Ocean Campaign. “We can’t trust big fishing industry players to simply stop fishing in these critical ecosystems. We need governments to use the treaty to force their hands.”

How those protected areas will actually be monitored and enforced is undecided. Countries are exploring various options, from satellite technology to coordinating patrols between multiple nations to using other UN agencies to help with oversight, said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance. Those details will be worked out as the first protected areas take shape.

Within a year, the treaty’s first Conference of Parties will meet to decide key operational details, from budgets to the makeup of various committees. Countries have been working through many of those questions at preparatory meetings, with a final session scheduled for late March. The earliest any Marine Protected Areas could actually win approval would be at the second COP, since the scientific body that will review proposals hasn’t yet been established.

The U.S. is notably absent

The United States has signed but not ratified the treaty, meaning it can participate as an observer but won’t have voting rights. Under international law, signatory countries are expected to comply with treaty objectives even before ratification.

“The High Seas Treaty has such incredibly broad and strong political support from across all regions of the world,” said Hubbard. “Whilst it’s disappointing that the U.S. hasn’t yet ratified, it doesn’t undermine its momentum and the support that it has already.”

Advocates emphasize that broad support must now turn into rapid implementation.

“The treaty is a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and protecting our global commons can still triumph over political rivalries,” Randles said. “The ocean connects us all.”

4)Blasting heat at home and still freezing? There are easy fixes to save money and stay warm

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Caleigh Wells, January 18, 2026

Snow covers homes during a winter storm in Cincinnati, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

It’s that time of year again, when the fuzzy socks are working overtime, the heat is cranking and somehow lots of homes are still freezing.

That’s because a lot of that heat leaks out of the house — and the colder it is outside, the faster the warm, inside air leaks out. There are ways to stay warm and save on heating costs that can be achieved though, through a quick trip to the local hardware store, a $100 investment and a free afternoon.

It’ll come in handy in the summer too when the same problem recurs, except you lose precious cool air to the sweltering outdoors.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that air leakage accounts for more than a quarter of the energy used to heat or cool a typical home. Experts say you can make a meaningful difference even without expensive solutions like whole-house insulation or replacing ductwork.

“It’ll lower your utility bills, it’ll make your home more comfortable and reduce your energy use,” said Johanna Neumann, senior director with the advocacy organization Environment America.

Finding and plugging the leaks

Neumann said the first step to keep a home warm is finding the air leaks. The worst are detectable just by putting a hand up and feeling for a draft, say, around the edge of a door.

Candles and incense are two effective and low-cost ways of finding air leaks. First, wait for a windy day and close all the windows and doors, Neumann said. Then light the incense or the candle and carry it around the house. If you stop somewhere and the candle’s flame flickers or the incense’s smoke points toward something, that indicates there’s a leak. Folks who can invest an extra $100 to $200 or more can get thermal cameras, which can be pointed at specific areas to show the temperature.

It’s best to look for leaks on a cold or very hot day, when the temperature outside is at least 15 degrees (8 degrees Celsius) different from what the air is inside.

Windows are an easy place to start. Matt Lanteigne, a DIY home construction expert, recommends putty or sealant and indoor window insulator kits, all of which are typically less than $20.

The window kits include a plastic film that’s spread over the window and attached at the edges with double-sided tape. A blow dryer tightens the seal. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective.

“They’re really easy to install, and they’re not permanent, as long as you’re careful taking the tape off after the winter,” Lanteigne said.

The putty helps with cracks along edges, including around the trim. Energy auditor and contractor Eric George of Home Comfort Advisors said window trim is a frequent culprit, often because painters don’t caulk the top or the bottom, since nobody sees it. Different putties are designed to work with drywall, plaster, concrete and metal, so choose the one that works best for the leak.

Dealing with doors and outlets

Doors leading outside — or more specifically, the gaps around them — can be another major source of leakage. To cover the gap at the bottom, try door sweeps, which are strips of metal, rubber or plastic that affix to that part of the door and typically cost less than $20.

Felt or rubber weatherstripping, which typically costs less than $10 per 10 feet (3 meters), works around the top and side of the door frame.

“You just go around and you tack it or glue it to the inside of the door jamb where the draft is. And it should fit pretty snugly,” Neumann said.

Indoor electrical outlets can also leak because they often don’t get properly sealed when they’re cut into the drywall or plaster. Cold air in that cavity between the layers of the wall can flow right through the outlet. Neumann uses foam sealers, which are small rectangular sheets that can be installed by unscrewing the sockets, laying the sealer down and putting the outlet cover back. Those also run less than $10 for a multipack.

In attics and basements, people can also use caulk guns or spray foam to seal gaps where electric wires and pipes enter walls, ceilings or floors.

Tackling recessed lights and other spots

Some fixes that require more work — but not much money — can yield even bigger results. One example is recessed ceiling lights.

“Most of the air in your house leaks out of the top of the house. And as that air leaks out the top the house, it draws air in through the bottom of the house,” George said.

George said many recessed light fixtures were designed for incandescent bulbs that got hotter than modern LED lights, so they have extra holes that allow heat to dissipate.

“There’s people that have 20, 30, 50 recessed lights in their houses and it basically turns their house into Swiss cheese. I mean, there’s just tons of air leaking out,” he said.

Hardware stores carry kits costing between $5 and $30 that allow people to retrofit these fixtures for energy-efficient LED lights. George said the process involves switching off the breaker, removing the old bulb, caulking the gap between the can and the drywall, and sealing the holes in the can with metal tape. The new light has an adapter that screws into the socket and metal fasteners to hold it in place.

In most homes, George said this can be done without an electrician. There are many tutorials online.

Vents for dryers, bath fans and kitchen hoods often aren’t airtight. Backdraft dampers are cylinder-shaped add-ons with metal or rubber valves that allow air to flow out but not in. They typically cost between $10 and $50 each.

George said attic entrances create more opportunities for warm air to escape through the ceiling. For that, he recommends foam boards to cover those areas and weatherstripping along the edges of any pull-down staircases.