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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

As we continue to experience longer and more destructive wildfire seasons, there have been many stories about the effect the smoke pollution has on our personal health. Today, we have a story about how it is affecting landscapes far beyond the reach of the flames.

Now, let’s catch you up on other news.

1. Nation building: Indigenous council member believes concerns on major projects will be addressed during approval process
2. Science: Clearest signal yet rattles gravitational wave detector at risk from Trump budget cut
3. Opinion: The circular economy could save the world – if anyone actually knew what it was
4. Politics: Ottawa ties stalled carbon-capture project to new pipeline
5. Sustainable finance: Canada could lead in CO2 removal if Ottawa supports market, coalition says
6. Wildfires: Canadian wildfires had global impact on premature deaths in 2023, new study says
7. Urban wildlife: Toronto dog owners’ clashes with coyotes add teeth to old debates
8. Still in season: What you should know about Canada’s growing tick problem

For this week’s deeper dive, a closer look at the additional factors affecting glacier lifespans. All photography by The Globe and Mail’s Sarah Palmer.

John Pomeroy is familiar with Peyto Glacier’s rapid melting.

He’s a distinguished professor and director of the Global Water Futures Observatories at the University of Saskatchewan, and has studied the ice mass in Banff National Park since 2008, visiting several times a year to adjust weather stations and photograph changes.

But on a helicopter trip through the Canadian Rockies to the glacier one year ago, Prof. Pomeroy and his team of scientists gasped – stunned to see how much it had transformed since even his previous visit.

At the glacier’s base now stood a lake. The ice was also darker than expected, owing to soot and ash from wildfires – hastening the glacier’s demise.

Just off the heels of last week’s wildfire strategy story, Globe reporter Andrea Woo, who is based in B.C., has a feature about how ash drifting onto mountain glaciers is accelerating ice melt.

Prof. Pomeroy says the glacier retreats tens of metres each year – 80 metres in 2021 alone. Clean glacier ice reflects about 30 per cent of solar radiation, but ice that has been darkened with soot and ash reflects around half of that. So even after the fires have long stopped burning, the darker ice will continue to melt as a faster pace.

The team also stumbled upon a somewhat unexpected finding at Athabasca Glacier, located in Jasper National Park. Ice sample tests showed the expected soot and organic material, but also revealed a mix of life and microbes – algae, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

The algae blooms cling to the ash, a nutrient source, and absorb more solar radiation, said Prof. Pomeroy, adding that colleagues have found this elsewhere as well, including in Greenland, South America and the Himalayas.

Solutions are in the works. Some ski resorts are starting to use geotextiles, large synthetic blankets that cover and insulate the ice surface and reduce melt. British Columbia’s Sun Peaks Resort became the first in Canada to employ the technology.

“There’s still time for us to avert this, and I think that message of hope needs to come out as well: If we can start to reduce greenhouse gas emissions very rapidly now, we can still save many of the glaciers in Canada and we can save ourselves from the worst effects of this,” Prof. Pomeroy said.