JANUARY 11 1949, Los Angeles noted a record-setting snowfall, a rare event for the city's semitropical climate. A three-day storm in early 1949 dumped more than a foot of snow through much of the San Fernando and outlying valleys.

Exposing the myths of the skilled trades

Mike Holmes 
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During our recent office move, I was reminded of a series of interviews in 2006, focusing on the future of skilled trade workers, their significance to our communities, and the many options available for a viable and lucrative career. The message is as relevant today as it was nearly two decades ago

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Mike Holmes has been an advocate of the skilled trades for over two decades, and will continue to help #endskilledtradesstigma. Mike's daughter, Sherry and son, Michael share in his passion. On location of Holmes and Holmes.

Aside from a lack of visibility, the trades have long faced a perception problem. Despite stringent health and safety requirements and above-average pay, skilled trades have a reputation for being blue-collar jobs that demand heavy, dirty, physical labour that are best suited to students who lack the skills for white-collar jobs.

I knew I wanted to be a contractor like my father from a young age, and at the age of 19, I was managing my crew. I’ve passed on my passion for construction and building it right, to my children, Sherry and Michael, who are both advocates and mentors to the next generation of skilled tradespeople.

Women make up only five per cent of skilled trades workers, with hairstyling and esthetics accounting for the vast majority. Don’t get me wrong, hairstyling and esthetics are fantastic skilled trade careers, but there are so many more to choose from.

My team and I work hard to support the skilled trades, which is why we collaborate with organizations such as Skills Canada and their provincial counterparts. It is also why we push for more diversity on our crews, and hire apprentices. Our responsibility is to employ new skilled tradespeople to create a more robust workforce for the next generation and break down and end the stigma against skilled trades.

However, there are still persistent myths that need to be exposed.

Myth No. 1: Working in skilled trades is just a job, NOT a career

Many skilled trades require technical skills, hands-on smarts, and many hours of training. Plus, programs today focus on developing skills for success like 3D technology, digital and diagnostic tools while also concentrating on soft skills, like critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and communication.

A career in the skilled trades or technology sector is very stable, particularly right now, with a high number of labour shortages. According to a recent RBC Economics report, the number of registered apprentices needed to stem the deficit is expected to rise to 60,000 by 2025. The pandemic has also impacted the number of registrations, which has dropped by 37 per cent since 2018.

Myth No. 2: You don’t have to be very smart

Granted, not everyone learns the same way, and many people are visual learners who benefit from hands-on instruction, but skilled-based jobs aren’t “all brawn and no brain.” As an electrical lineman you need to problem solve using mathematics. Try building an HVAC system, or using a diesel mechanic’s sophisticated diagnostic tools. Many people would be unable to handle it.

Myth No. 3: Skilled trades means construction worker, plumber, and electrician

With more than 40 skilled trades supported by organizations like Skills Canada and more than 400 designated skilled trades recognized across Canada (many are Red Seal), the career opportunities are endless. The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program is a Canada-wide skill standard that ensures a tradesperson has the necessary training and certification to work anywhere in Canada.

Myth No. 4: No room for advancement

There is an abundance of opportunities for advancement in the skilled trades and technology sectors. Experience and knowledge go a long way, plus additional certification and accreditation also help advancement.

Myth No. 5: These jobs aren’t suited for women

Again, simply not true. I have women on my crew and work with many women in the industry. Last season two women graduates from the WIST program (Women in Skilled Trades) joined our team, and Bailey is now a full-time member of our crew.

There are so many great opportunities for women in the skilled trades and technology sector that offer excellent compensation, benefits, flexibility, variety, and rewarding employment. These are great job opportunities. Women need to know that they are out there for the taking. There is a huge support team ready to help.

Myth No. 6: You can’t earn a good living

Not true. According to Talent.com, entry-level salaries start around $47,755.00 per year, while more experienced workers can make up to $77,774.00 or more per year. General labourers range from $18 to $36 per hour, depending on experience, and skilled trades technologists can go as high as $50 per hour.

I’ve been an advocate for the skilled trades and technology sector for more than two decades, and I will continue to be for as long as I’m able. Through a strong support team and engaging with educators, industry leaders, organizations, parents, and students together we will continue to be champions for the next generation of skilled trades, break down barriers and end the stigma against skilled trades.

Follow Mike Holmes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more renovation and maintenance tips.

Alberta unions call for circuit-breaker COVID-19 lockdown but Premier Kenney says no

EDMONTON — The leaders of Alberta's largest public and private sector unions are calling for drastic lockdown measures immediately to fight the spiralling COVID-19 Omicron variant.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The leaders are calling for no in-person service at restaurants and bars, closing theatres and casinos, shuttering gyms, suspending recreational sports, and sending students home to learn online as a last resort.

They say it's a difficult call but necessary to prevent the rapidly spreading variant from flooding hospitals and overwhelming an exhausted, depleted staff of frontline health workers.

But a spokesman for Premier Jason Kenney says the United Conservative government is following and acting on the scientific data for the Omicron wave and that a lockdown is not being considered.

Alberta Health reports 708 people are in hospital with COVID-19 — a rise of 73 from a day earlier — with 80 of them in intensive care.

There are now well over 58,000 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta but Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, has said the case numbers are low and the actual infections are likely 10 times higher.

The unions made the call for a lockdown in an open letter Tuesday.

The letter is signed by the United Nurses of Alberta, the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which is the largest public sector union in the province.

They say the latest wave of COVID-19 could have been avoided last month if Kenney's government had implemented stricter health restrictions and initiatives, such as supplying workers with higher grade N95 masks and installing high-efficiency air filtration systems.

"Because of the government's dangerous political pandering and its wilful policy negligence, we now have only two options to choose from: temporary circuit-breaker measures, on one hand, or a health-care system collapse and rising disease, disability and death, on the other," write the union leaders.

"We, along with what we expect would be a clear majority of Albertans, choose temporary circuit-breaker measures as the lesser of two evils."

The unions are also calling for a ban on concerts and sports events, and for religious services to move online.

They add that the government has to renew income supports to keep affected businesses solvent.

Justin Brattinga, a spokesman for Kenney, responded to the letter in a short statement: "As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will follow the science and the advice of our public health officials.

"A circuit-breaker is not on the table and not being considered."

Kenney's government implemented new restrictions on public gatherings in late December, including half capacity at major venues and events.

Most universities have already moved online this month for an indeterminate time.

Kindergarten and grade-school students returned to class this week after an extra week off so that staff could prepare for Omicron.

The province is delivering more masks and rapid tests to schools and has said students and staff will be the priority as millions more masks arrive this month.

The Opposition NDP says Kenney has failed yet again to deal seriously with another wave of COVID-19 and is calling on the province to release its projections of the Omicron wave so that parents, students, employers and employees can see what is coming.

Hinshaw said Monday that health officials are bracing for what she termed "significant impact" to the health system with a provincial positivity rate around 40 per cent.

Both Hinshaw and Kenney say that vaccines are the best protection against the Omicron wave.

Close to eight million COVID-19 vaccinations have been delivered in the province.

Almost 90 per cent of those eligible — age 12 and older — have had at least one dose and more than 85 per cent are fully vaccinated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

'They're not filling all those bus seats:' Edmonton transit union says some bus trips being missed due to increase in driver absences amid rising COVID-19 spread

Dustin Cook 

EDMONTON JOURNAL

01/11/2021

Edmonton's transit service has about 28 active cases of COVID-19 and other drivers off in isolation, which the union said is resulting in some bus trips being missed.

Edmonton’s transit service is facing staffing challenges amid the spread of COVID-19 with 28 active cases currently among drivers.

The city’s transit union says absences as a result of illness or fatigue have forced some trips to be missed despite attempts to have shifts covered through overtime hours in order to maintain service levels. The city has about 1,700 transit operators.

In the latest count Friday, there are about 130 active cases of the virus across the City of Edmonton. Updated numbers on city employees in isolation as a result of the virus weren’t available Tuesday. The city reported 200 cases last week.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 president Steve Bradshaw said there are many overtime requests in the absence of drivers and they haven’t all been met, meaning some trips have been missed. If cases start to rise, Bradshaw said he expects the city would need to make targeted service changes and shuffle around operators to ensure main routes and school specials continue to be covered.

“It’s all hands on deck right now and they’re not filling all those bus seats and the possibility of trimming the service is very much there,” Bradshaw said in an interview with Postmedia Tuesday. “They’ve got overtime requests out at full throttle and even at full throttle, they’re not even able to get enough to get all the work done.”

To mitigate impacts to services as much as possible, spokesman Geoffrey Driscoll said the city is working to adjust shift schedules and allocate overtime hours where possible.

“The City of Edmonton continues to assess its ability to deliver core programs and services and make adjustments as necessary, including in Edmonton Transit Service,” Driscoll said in a statement to Postmedia. “The safety of Edmontonians and those who work for the city is critical. We will continue to make timely and informed decisions on priority services and workplace protocols based on the information we have available.”

Edmonton’s fire department is also facing staffing shortages amid a COVID-19 outbreak that started at four fire stations across the city. As of Friday, the city reported 40 active cases among firefighters and an additional 111 employees in isolation. There was no update available from the city Tuesday, but a postponement in routine fire inspections is expected to last until Friday.

In the latest data provided from the Edmonton Police Service last Wednesday, services haven’t been impacted but 100 employees had COVID-19, including 77 sworn members, and a total of 194 employees were in isolation. Another update is expected Wednesday.

Animal care and control service change

Edmonton’s Animal Care and Control Centre continues to run at a reduced capacity in suspending the intake of lost or stray animals considered to be healthy. Operations were reduced on Jan. 1 initially as a result of three illnesses within the small staff of trained veterinarians. But Driscoll said the intake suspension will continue indefinitely due to the rise of the Omicron variant and potential future impacts on staff.

Animals that are sick, injured or in distress are still being accepted by appointment. The city updated its criteria to note that animals found outside in the cold in temperatures below -20 C with the windchill qualify as in distress and will be accepted. Residents who find an animal in these conditions is asked to call 311.

Court finds Métis Nation of Alberta not the lone voice for off-settlement Métis, sides with province

The Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) is not the undisputed voice for Métis people off-settlement in the province.

A decision rendered by Court of Queen’s Bench Alberta last week said that not only had the MNA failed to prove itself as the sole representative of off-settlement Métis in Alberta, but the court would not force the provincial government to continue negotiations with the MNA on the Métis Consultation Policy (MCP).

“The requested declaratory relief (by MNA) requesting Alberta to continue negotiations … is coercive in nature as it seeks to compel Alberta to enter a negotiation process,” wrote Justice Bernette Ho in her 75-page decision Jan. 4.

“Moreover, I am of the view that the relief sought by the MNA is inappropriate because it seeks a determination of issues that exist, not just between Alberta and the MNA, but between other stakeholders as well.”

On June 17 and 18, 2021, the MNA challenged Alberta Indigenous Relations in court for doing an “about face”, deciding unilaterally to end negotiations that had been ongoing for five years on the creation of a MCP.

MNA said the United Conservative Party had “breached the honour of the Crown” and had given insufficient reasons for terminating negotiations.

Indigenous Relations suggested that negotiations for the MCP could be picked up at a later date and until then, consultation with the Métis would be guided by the revamped credible assertion process with other Métis groups on a case-by-case basis.

The credible assertion process, updated in December 2019 by the UCP, outlines nine points that if met by a Métis organization commits Alberta to consulting with that Métis organization on Crown land management and resource development. The credible assertion process is not proof or recognition of rights.

In the fall of 2015, Indigenous Relations was given the mandate by the then New Democrat government to engage with the MNA and other stakeholder groups to work toward the development of an MCP.

Documents presented to the court show that throughout the five years of discussions, which spanned two different provincial governments, MNA President Audrey Poitras asserted that the MNA had established itself as “the” voice of Alberta’s off-settlement Métis.

Among the documents drawn on by the MNA to validate its position was the Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreement (SGA), which the MNA signed with Canada in July 2019.

However, Ho did not view the document as validation, pointing out that the SGA “speaks only to Canada’s recognition of the MNA for the purpose of addressing Métis issues on the federal level.”

Ho also noted that the SGA said the MNA was able to represent the “Métis Nation within Alberta,” which was a term defined by the document, as was the term “Métis government.” Finally, she pointed out that the self-government implementation date was to be set by a federal order-in-council, which had not yet been proclaimed.

The province continued to maintain it was conducting talks with the MNA, Métis locals and other non-settlement Métis communities, especially as it became clearer that some Métis organizations and communities did not want the MNA to speak for them.

This point was highlighted in early 2019 when the Fort McKay Métis terminated its relationship with the MNA. A year later, the Fort McKay Métis Nation became the first Métis organization to receive “credible assertion” of Aboriginal harvesting rights.

Also in 2020, Fort McKay Métis Nation was joined by Willow Lake, Athabasca Landing, Owl River, Lakeland, Chard and Edmonton in splitting from the MNA to form the Alberta Métis Federation.

“(Poitras) opined that there could only be one provincial policy for dealing with non-settlement Métis, and that it must be developed in collaboration with the MNA,” wrote Ho in her decision.

When the UCP came to power, at least one meeting and a number of communications happened between Poitras and the Indigenous Relations ministry. Engagements concluded in September 2019 with new Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson saying that “(at) this time, Alberta will not be moving forward with the draft consultation policy …”

The MNA argued it engaged in negotiations with the province and had not simply had policy discussions, as the government asserted. Ho agreed that the depth and length of the “engagement between the parties was more than a mere policy discussion.”

However, she did not agree that the honour of the Crown had been breached.

“Alberta’s intention to deal with the MNA in a respectful, transparent and cooperative manner in developing the MCP are thoroughly documented in the Record,” said Ho.

Ho also did not agree with the MNA that when Alberta broke off negotiations that an agreement was about to be reached.

The Justice pointed out that the MNA “consistently sought a commitment from Alberta to be recognized as the sole entity authorized to act as the point of contact under the MCP” while “Alberta was aware that various non-settlement Métis were not in favour of representation though the MNA, and some locals took the position that even within the MNA structure, it was the locals, as opposed to the regional or provincial representatives, who should have a voice ….”

Ho said the “record demonstrates that Alberta continuously stated it was not in a position to tell the Métis how they were to be represented for the purpose of consultation” and that disputes should be resolved within the MNA’s governance structure.

“The MNA has not provided a conclusive answer to the question of who speaks for the non-settlement Métis,” said Ho.

Ho added that Alberta’s decision although reasonable could have been “more fulsome (but) perfection is not the standard.”

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

Alberta man, winner of wire recycling raffle, charged in copper wire theft

Two southern Alberta residents, one of whom recently won hockey tickets in a raffle put on by a wire recycling business, are facing several charges related to wire thefts from oil lease sites northeast of Calgary.

RCMP cruiser.

On Dec. 16, Mounties with the RCMP’s southern Alberta crime reduction unit were investigating recent copper wire thefts from oil lease sites in the Three Hills and Hanna area, around 90 minutes out of Calgary. Officers saw a man and a woman enter one such site east of Three Hills, and as a covert police vehicle drove toward them, both suspects fled.

Officers confirmed wire had been cut and removed from the site, amounting to about $7,000 in damage. They later again evaded police after an officer pulled them over, speeding off as the officer exited their vehicle.

Mounties later arrested Tyree Ewing, 23, and Wanda Charlton, 51 — of Three Hills and Hanna, respectively — finding them attempting to sell copper wire at a wire recycling business in southeast Calgary, Bare Wire Recycling.

Bare Wire regularly runs contest draws for its clients, with the prize being Calgary Flames tickets. The admission fee? Bringing in 100 pounds of insulated wire for recycling.

Ewing won one of the recent contests at Bare Wire, winning tickets to see the Flames’ pre-season bout with the Winnipeg Jets in October, confirmed the business’s general manager, Taylor Cowley.

“At the time, there was no indication that anything was on the bad side,” said Cowley.

And that was the case until Dec. 16, when Cowley saw the two suspects being arrested outside his shop.

“The person has a vehicle, they have registration, they have all the proper identification to be able to sell scrap metal so, you know, he got entered into the draw and I guess he got the ticket,” he said, adding Bare Wire will continue to run similar contests, but in the future, will be a little more careful with the prize.

“We’ll maybe do a little bit more planning when we’re doing this to make sure they go to proper businesses that are electricians and stuff like that,” he said.

Ewing and Charlton are charged with theft under $5,000, flight from police, mischief exceeding $5,000 and possession of break-in tools. Ewing faces three further charges for failing to comply with a police order and unlawful possession of both methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Both are scheduled to appear in court in Drumheller on Feb. 18. They’ve been released from police custody.

A college in upstate New York is shortening the work week to 32 hours, but pay and benefits are staying the same

insider@insider.com (Juliana Kaplan)

© Provided by Business Insider Dobson Field Athletics Complex. Courtesy of D'Youville

D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York is trying a 32-hour workweek for the next six months.

The new policy impacts about 140 staff members, who will have no reduction in pay or benefits.

D'Youville president Lorrie Clemo said that she hopes the shorter week will bring in high-quality workers who want balance.

Like many around the world, D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York is trying something new in 2022.

The college announced it's instituting a six-month trial of a 32-hour workweek for around 140 workers — and employees will still receive the same pay and benefits as they did during their five-day week. Those workers include mostly staff and administration members, as well as librarians. Non-librarian faculty members, who already do not work D'Youville's traditional 37.5-hour week, are not included in the current trial.

The 32-hour workweek first arose at D'Youville as part of a work-share program in the summer of 2020. The school had to get "creative" amidst the onset of the pandemic, experimenting with the shorter week as part of New York's Shared Work Program. Under that plan, employees' hours could be shrunk and they could collect unemployment insurance on the hours they were no longer working.

"During that time, we were very successful, very engaged with our students — surveys that we did with our students indicated improved engagement," Lorrie Clemo, D'Youville's president, told Insider. The school was still remote during that time.

As workers around the country rethink what they want out of work, and yearn for flexibility, Clemo hopes that the shorter week will reduce attrition and bring in high-quality workers who want that balance — and create a school of graduates who understand the benefits of a "modernized" work environment and potentially reshape their own future work.

Lorrie Clemo. Courtesy of D'Youville

"We think that work will be more satisfying to our employees if they're more rested, and they feel happier about their overall lives," Clemo said.

A 32-hour workweek has gained more prominence in recent years. Progressives in Congress have thrown their support behind a bill that would shrink weekly working hours to 32. A four-day workweek pilot in Iceland made headlines as workers saw their happiness go up and stress fall — but their productivity remained the same. Other countries like Scotland and Japan are trying out the concept.

"After a nearly two-year-long pandemic that forced millions of people to explore remote work options, it's safe to say that we can't – and shouldn't – simply go back to normal, because normal wasn't working," Rep. Mark Takano, the California Democrat behind the shorter workweek legislation, said in a statement announcing the bill.

Laura Hechtel, the interim president of the school's faculty union and who is serving as the chief negotiator amidst contract negotiations, told Inside Higher Ed that while professors support the new policy, faculty have "nothing similar," and they "are assuming additional responsibilities that have been thrust upon them due to the actions of the administration." Jason MacLeod, D'Youville's chief of staff, told Insider that the Vice President for Academic Affairs is "working on a proposal to help structure more faculty release time and fellowships to support faculty research and scholarship," and that they're anticipating new benefits will get rolled out during the spring semester.

In the meantime, Clemo said that she's already heard from some nonprofits and business partners who are interested in the plan and how they're rolling it out. She also said some staffers have gotten calls from colleagues at other schools.

"I think most employers are really generally trying to create work environments that are going to be better workplaces coming out of a period where the 60 hour workweek, 70 hour workweek was expected," Clemo said.

And, broadly, "we really do hope that it helps others," Clemo said, noting that the school is going to document their process and share results.

"We thought it was important to experiment with something, and to not try to go back to what we all felt like was not a perfect world of work prior to the pandemic," Clemo said.

Hundreds more Afghan refugees arrive in Canada, including human rights defenders

CBC/Radio-Canada 

© Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images People attempting to flee the Taliban climb on a plane at the Kabul airport on August 16, 2021.

The federal government announced on Tuesday the arrival of more than 250 Afghan refugees.

The refugees — most of whom are described as human rights defenders by the federal government — are the latest to arrive in Canada since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban last year.

A charter flight carrying the refugees arrived in Calgary from Islamabad, Pakistan.

"It is a privilege to welcome today this cohort of Afghan refugees, who face persecution as a result of their work to protect the human rights of others," said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in a media statement.

"I am grateful for their work to document and prevent human rights abuses and proud that they now call our country home.

Ottawa says about 6,750 Afghan nationals have been resettled in Canada since the Taliban took over. They include Afghans who assisted the Canadian military during its mission in Afghanistan.

The refugees also include Afghans deemed vulnerable, such as women leaders, members of religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ individuals and journalists.

The group of 252 refugees includes 170 people considered human rights defenders by the government.

The remaining 82 are people whose employment involved a "significant and/or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada, and their families," the government said in a news release.

Those individuals, who are judged by Ottawa to have contributed to the protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms, are eligible to apply for resettlement in Canada as part of a new dedicated stream.

The government has pledged to resettle up to 250 human rights defenders per year from around the world.

Vast Roman town uncovered along UK high-speed railway route

The remains of a vast Roman trading settlement have been discovered by a team of archaeologists working along a future high-speed railway route in England.© Courtesy HS2 Ltd The site is known as Blackgrounds.

Hundreds of Roman coins, jewelry, pottery and a pair of shackles were among the artifacts to be discovered at the site near a village in Northamptonshire, according to a press release from High Speed 2 (HS2) Tuesday. HS2 is a large-scale project intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in central and northern England.

The site, known as Blackgrounds, dates back to around 50 AD, although it initially housed an Iron Age village dating back to around 400 BC, HS2 said.

As an Iron Age road and more than 30 roundhouses were found near the Roman remains, archaeologists believe the Iron Age village developed into a wealthy Roman settlement.

The area is believed to have developed over time and become wealthier, with new roads and stone buildings being constructed.

A huge Roman road around 10 meters in width (33 feet) runs through the settlement, far exceeding the normal maximum of around four meters (13 feet), said James West, site manager for MOLA Headland Infrastructure, which oversaw the excavation.

Experts believe this road -- described as "exceptional in its size" -- indicates the settlement was once a busy area with carts going in and out with goods.

"Uncovering such a well-preserved and large Roman road, as well as so many high quality finds has been extraordinary and tells us so much about the people who lived here," West said in the press release.

"The site really does have the potential to transform our understanding of the Roman landscape in the region and beyond."

Unearthed workshops, kilns and several wells suggest the town would have been a "bustling and busy area" at its peak, the press release says. In addition to industrial practices, the foundations of buildings used for domestic purposes were also uncovered.

More than 300 Roman coins were found, suggesting a significant volume of commerce passed through the area.

Glass vessels, highly decorative pottery, jewelry and evidence of cosmetics -- as the mineral galena, which was crushed and mixed with oil to create makeup -- was also discovered.

The quality of the soil, which is a fiery red color in some parts, suggest activities involving burning took place in the area, such as bread making, metal work or pottery.

A pair of shackles discovered could also be evidence of either slave labor or criminal activity, the press release says.

The artifacts will be cleaned and examined by specialists, while the layout of the area and details of the buildings are being mapped.

Blackgrounds is one of more than 100 archaeological sites between London and Birmingham that HS2 has examined since 2018.

HS2 has unearthed a number of interesting archaeological finds, such as rare Roman statues found at a church in Buckinghamshire and a Roman mosaic at a farm in Rutland in the East Midlands.





This coin depicting Marcus Aurelius from the reign of Emperor Constantine was one of more than 300 unearthed.

Satellites reveal record high methane concentrations despite reduction pledges

Concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere continued to rise in 2021 in spite of climate pledges and the economic slowdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data reveal.

Concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere 

 continue to rise despite climate pledges.

Methane concentrations in particular showed a worrying trend, rising to a new maximum of nearly 1,900 parts per billion (ppb), according to the European Earth observation program Copernicus.

Methane, which is released naturally by decaying matter but also by the agriculture and energy industries, is 80 times more potent in warming the climate than carbon dioxide. The gas is a target of a global emissions reduction pledge announced at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021.

The annual increase in methane concentrations also set a new record, reaching 16.3 ppb, slightly more than in 2020 but more than double the average annual increase between 2005 and 2015.

Scientists don't know yet what drives the trend, Vincent-Henri Peuch, the director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said in a news conference held virtually on Monday (Jan. 10).

"Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and it's a concern to see the atmospheric concentration growth rate double compared to the average," Peuch said. "More science is needed to see whether it's something that is part of the natural variability cycle or if it's something linked to more recent trends and the anthropogenic effects of climate change."

Related: Satellites discover huge amounts of undeclared methane emissions

Peuch said that in addition to an increase in both natural and anthropogenic methane emissions, the rise in methane concentration may reflect a decrease in the atmosphere's ability to break down the gas. Methane reacts in Earth's atmosphere with oxygen to gradually form the less potent and more prevalent carbon dioxide. Scientists don't yet fully understand the intricacies of these processes.

The rapid increase in methane concentrations shows that the world is nowhere near on track to slowing down the projected course of climate change. Experts believe that due to methane's potency, reductions in emissions of the gas could significantly slow down global warming. A 30% cut in methane emissions by 2030 could slash 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.28 degrees Celsius) from the temperature rise expected by 2050, according to the European Commission.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide rose in 2021 as well, according to measurements by the Copernicus satellite constellation. Carbon dioxide concentrations increased 2.4 parts per million (ppm), reaching an annual average of 414.3 ppm. This growth rate is slightly higher than the average for the 2005 to 2015 period. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen by a whopping 50% since the late 18th century's industrial revolution, according to an earlier estimate by the U.K. Met Office, the nation's weather and climate authority.

Copernicus data also showed that 2021 was one of the seven hottest years on record globally, along with the six years prior to it.

But the latest data set revealed some nuances as well.

Europe, which in the long term is warming much faster than the rest of the world, experienced a somewhat cooler year than other regions, with mean temperatures only slightly above the 1991 to 2020 average and outside the warmest 10 years on record, Freja Vamberg, a senior scientist with the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in the briefing.

Europe is already on average 3.9 degrees F (2.2 degrees C) warmer than it was before the industrial revolution, well beyond that 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) threshold called for in the Paris Agreement, the international treaty negotiated at the UN Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. Warming beyond that threshold could have unforeseen consequences for Earth's climate, experts believe. The world is currently on average 2 to 2.2 degrees F (1.1-1.2 degrees C) warmer than during the pre-industrial period.

The mildly cooler average temperatures in Europe in 2021 are likely caused by natural variability rather than a beginning of a new, cooling trend on the continent, Vamberg said.

"Last year was still just about above the average of the last 30 years," Vamberg said. "This is just part of the natural climate variability that happens above the warming trend. You will also have some years which are slightly cooler, or slightly warmer than others."

In fact, 2021 still broke a record for Europe's warmest summer. The continent's new record high temperature of 120 degrees F (48.8 degrees C) was set on the Italian island of Sicily in August.

The Copernicus results, Peuch admitted, reveal that existing greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures have yet to kick in.

"When you look [at the data] in detail, you will see that last year with all the COVID-related measures, carbon dioxide emissions only decreased by maybe 5 to 7%," Peuch said. "The difficulty in the current state is that we are looking at the emissions in the atmosphere, but anthropogenic emissions represent only a small fraction of the global carbon cycle."

The European Commission, which runs the Copernicus program, is currently cooperating with the European Space Agency on a new satellite constellation capable of measuring anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide in real time on the level of individual factories and power plants.

Satellites already play an important role in monitoring methane leaks from oil and gas installations. In the past years, these observations revealed that much more methane is escaping from the industrial establishments than previously thought.

The new European constellation, called CO2M, will provide a new level of detail and coverage also for methane monitoring. This in turn, will lead to better enforceability of greenhouse gas reduction pledges, experts hope.

In a separate announcement, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed on Monday that 2021 was the fourth warmest year in the U.S. since records began nearly 130 years ago. All six of the warmest years have occurred since 2012, NOAA said. A string of weather-related disasters including devastating wildfires, powerful hurricanes and giant tornadoes killed nearly 700 people in the U.S. in 2021 and caused $145 billion worth of damage.

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