B.C. climate news: Firefighters battle two out-of-control wildfires near Boston Bar | First Nation challenges port plan to dredge Metro Vancouver's Second Narrows for oil tankers | Western Europe had hottest June on record

Article content

If it were decided the additional environmental impacts from an oil shipping terminal could be tolerated, there is still the question of whether there is enough room at Roberts Bank for another major terminal, and whether two major projects could be built at the same time.

Article content

The proponents of the project — the Alberta and federal governments — have no answers to those questions, at least for now.

Article content

Article content

—Gordon Hoekstra

Article content

Article content

Extreme weather events — such as the heat wave gripping Europe — are making a growing number of assets too risky to insure, according to a director at Europe’s largest primary insurer.

Article content

“Certain locations and perils cannot be covered as we would wish them to be covered,” Günther Thallinger, who sits on the management board of Allianz SE, said in an interview. “We cannot help it.”

Article content

Heat, floods, storms and wildfires “could become so frequent that they challenge traditional insurance models,” he said. “Risk-adequate pricing would not be affordable any longer.”

Article content

Article content

The warning comes as millions of Europeans endure some of the highest temperatures recorded in the region, with scientists identifying man-made climate change as the culprit. Researchers at World Weather Attribution estimate that June temperatures were between 5 C and 12 C above seasonal averages across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and southern England, as Europe heats up faster than other continents.

Article content

Article content

—Bloomberg News

Article content

File photo of a man in the U.K. stocking up on water during a heat wave. Photo by Dan Kitwood /Getty Images

Article content

Article content

On a sweltering day in late June, the U.K.’s power grid came under exceptional strain. As temperatures rose, wind generation slumped and electricity prices spiked, forcing Britain’s grid operator to take emergency measures to keep the lights on.

Article content

The system ultimately held. But fresh analysis shows the grid’s frequency remained below its normal operating level for almost 26 minutes — the longest such stretch on record, according to energy data provider Montel — leaving the system with less margin for error if another problem had occurred.

Article content

The findings come as Britain’s grid faces political scrutiny. Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has accused the National Energy System Operator of withholding information and risking blackouts, citing whistleblowers who contacted her about actions taken on June 23. While Coutinho hasn’t provided evidence for the claims, and NESO denies wrongdoing, the dispute has drawn renewed attention to the resilience of the U.K.’s grid.

Article content

Article content

The episode underscores a broader challenge facing Europe. As heat waves grow hotter, longer and more frequent, electricity demand is becoming less predictable just as power systems rely increasingly on weather-dependent renewable generation. That’s leaving grid operators with limited flexibility when conditions don’t co-operate.

Article content

—Bloomberg News

Article content

Western Europe had hottest June on record: climate scientists

Article content

Article content

The month saw Europe hit by extreme heat over land and sea, with much of western Europe experiencing a record-breaking heat wave and marine heat waves across the western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coasts.

Article content

June heat waves broke monthly and all-time temperature records across several European countries and contributed to severe health impacts, including heat-related deaths, the report said.

Article content

Europe also saw widespread dryness that, together with extreme heat, contributed to wildfire activity, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, and heightened drought risk in parts of eastern Europe, the report said.

Article content

The June heat wave occurred against a backdrop of increasingly dry soils across western and Central Europe, further exacerbating drought conditions that had begun to develop during May’s heat wave.

Article content

—Tiffany Crawford

Article content

Article content