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May 11, 2026

Silicon Valley’s AI ‘tokenmaxxing’ obsession has a big problem – and philosophers saw it coming

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Victoria Lorrimar, Director, Centre for Technology and Human Futures, University of Notre Dame Australia

Some time earlier this year, an employee at tech giant Meta built a system to track how much each staff member was using artificial intelligence (AI).

Named “Claudeonomics” after the Claude chatbot, the system created a leaderboard ranked by the number of tokens each user was exchanging with AI models, with leaders given titles such as “Token Legend”. (Tokens are tiny chunks of text, each around four characters long, that language models use for processing.)

Meta is not alone in its fascination with “tokenmaxxing”: AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic, e-commerce company Shopify, and tech investment firm Sequoia capital are all reportedly monitoring AI usage and rewarding heavy users, some of whom burn billions of tokens in a week.

Reducing a person’s performance to a single metric can be appealing for management in large corporations. But the choice of what to measure isn’t a neutral one – and if we’re not careful, it can start to rewrite our vision of what we actually value.

The score keeps the score

One of the more full-throated advocates of tokenmaxxing is Jensen Huang, chief executive of chipmaker Nvidia, who envisions a future in which tech employees negotiate high token budgets and consume tokens at rates commensurate with their salaries. Around 80% of those tokens are currently processed via Nvidia’s chips, so Huang’s enthusiasm makes sense.

But is token consumption a helpful metric for those of us who do not profit directly from AI processing volume?

In a recent book, The Score, philosopher C. Thi Nguyen analyses the rise of metrics throughout modern society and offers some helpful insights.

As Nguyen emphasises, what we measure shapes our goals. We develop metrics as tools of convenience; they standardise our measurement of values so we can compare large numbers of otherwise disparate things.

This standardisation comes at the expense of variation and distinctiveness, Nguyen argues. In business, it can make workers seem interchangeable.

Determining which employees in a large organisation are consuming the most tokens in a week is fairly straightforward. But it tells us nothing about the quality or impact of their work.

Bad metrics, bad results

In the past, questionable metrics have contributed to dramatically bad outcomes.

Prior to the 2008 global financial crisis, for example, many financial institutions had sophisticated systems of measures designed to incentivise selling as many loans as possible, as quickly as possible. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of those loans turned out to be far riskier than anyone realised.

Nguyen emphasises that these types of metrics can tempt us into thinking they are unavoidable. But one of the central lessons of moral philosophy is that we ought to pause at moments like these and ask a couple of basic questions: what is a good life, and what values are actually worth chasing?

Huang and others usually don’t present tokenmaxxing as an answer to these question. But that’s how it functions. What is worth devoting your professional and creative energy to? Simple: grinding through tokens.

A new vision of the good life?

Silicon Valley has, of late, produced a striking number of manifestos and quasi-constitutions.

Consider Anthropic’s Claude’s Constitution, published in January 2026, which sets out the company’s aspirations for its model’s values and speech. Or look at venture capitalist Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto, which makes the case for ambitiously accelerating technological advancements in the service of promoting human flourishing.

Some of the most influential texts in the history of moral and political philosophy take this form. Thomas Jefferson wrote one – the US Declaration of Independence. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote another – The Communist Manifesto.

One way to view these Silicon Valley proclamations, and trends like tokenmaxxing, is as repackaging familiar commonplaces of corporate life – recasting mission statements and key performance indicators in a loftier register. But another is to see them as attempts to do something far more ambitious: sketch the outlines of a new and far-reaching vision of the good life.

On that view, the metrics used to measure progress against the vision matter. Tokenmaxxing, for example, is already creeping beyond the bounds of the tech industry – one report from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania suggests many organisations are prioritising staff AI usage and spending as metrics.

Metrics can be useful – if we’re careful

Metrics do have their place in an ordered and complex society. There are many instances in which we might happily defer to the scores produced by simple metrics, trading nuance for convenience. Aggregate ratings on product or restaurant review sites, for example, can simplify our decision-making, even if they aren’t tailored to our specific preferences.

The problem is what Nguyen calls “value capture” – when we uncritically allow external metrics to determine our own goals and behaviour. Resisting this process involves questioning what is being measured and reframing it.

Instead of counting tokens, for example, we might use an equivalent metric such as energy consumption. Energymaxxing might sound more like conspicuous wastage, rather than improved performance.

Counting tokens is one measure of AI activity, which is itself intended as a measure of productivity, which in turn leaves aside the question of what is being produced. Not only is tokenmaxxing a dubious metric in itself, but it may also distort our vision of what matters.

Victoria Lorrimar receives funding from the John Templeton Foundation.

Tim Smartt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Silicon Valley’s AI ‘tokenmaxxing’ obsession has a big problem – and philosophers saw it coming – https://theconversation.com/silicon-valleys-ai-tokenmaxxing-obsession-has-a-big-problem-and-philosophers-saw-it-coming-281530

May 11, 2026

Fenian: the anti-Irish history behind Kneecap’s defiant new album title

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Ciara Smart, Staff member, History and Classics, University of Tasmania

Irish hip-hop group Kneecap recently released their latest album, called “Fenian”.

A proud reclamation of a painful derogatory slur, Fenian is a word that connects Irish people to a history in which they were sometimes seen as less than human.

A title packed with meaning

The word originally comes from “Fianna”, which is linked to an ancient Irish mythology. The Fianna were small groups of male Irish warriors led by the legendary hero, Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Today, however, the term is more commonly known for its association with Irish nationalism.

Since at least the 17th century, Irish people have endured religious and cultural oppression under British rule – which largely targeted the Irish Catholic population.

In the 19th century, various nationalist groups fought for Irish independence, sometimes violently. This included the Irish Republican Brotherhood, whose members were called Fenians.

The word’s meaning eventually expanded to become a derogatory term for supporters of Irish independence.

A screenshot of a webpage showing various meanings and uses of the term 'Fenian'. — A screenshot from Kneecap’s website explaining the different meanings of ‘Fenian’.
Kneecap

Anti-Irish stereotyping

But there’s more to this word than just its political significance. It is also entwined with a history of anti-Irish racism, also known as “hibernophobia”.

In the 19th century, interest in human evolution led to a pseudo-scientific theory called social Darwinism.

This discredited theory claimed all human “types” could be placed along a hierarchy of evolution. White Europeans were at the top, as the most “evolved”. This twisted logic was used to justify the subjugation of people in colonised territories worldwide, including Australia.

Irish Catholic people were given a position in this hierarchy – towards the bottom. Historians argue the designation of Irish Catholic people as a backwards “race” was used to rationalise their oppression. If they were an inherently “savage” people, then they were unfit to run their own government.

Fenians supposedly embodied the worst elements of the Irish character: stupidity, violence and brutishness. From this viewpoint, Fenian violence became seen as an expression of a supposedly inherent Irish character – not as a response to the British rule in Ireland.

Cartoons were published that dehumanised Fenians and drew on centuries of anti-Irish stereotyping. Fenians were drawn as “terrorists” with exaggerated facial features, making them look like chimpanzees.

In one typical example from 1866, a thuggish, simianised Fenian man menaces a beautiful feminised version of “Britannia”. Anti-Irish cartoons were even published in Australia.

A xenophobic 1886 cartoon shows a caricaturised ‘Fenian’ next to a women called ‘Brittania’.
Punch v.49-52 (1865-67)

This history of anti-Irish racism still normalises anti-Irish jokes today.

Who are Kneecap?

Kneecap is a rap and hip-hop trio from Northern Ireland.

The group shot to fame following the release of their 2024 semi-autobiographical film. Their music is gritty, rude and defiantly anti-colonial – belonging to a long line of Irish activists fighting to get “Brits out” of Ireland.

Kneecap want to bring Irish people together, regardless of religion, and reunite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. The six counties of Northern Ireland were separated from the rest of Ireland in the 1921 Partition. They remain part of the United Kingdom.

Kneecap rap in English and Irish, and have been credited for revitalising the Irish language. Irish only achieved official language status in Northern Ireland in 2022, after being suppressed for much of the 20th century.

The chorus in Kneecap’s latest title song, also called Fenian, features a crowd jubilantly chanting “F-E-N-I-A-N”. The messaging is clear: they accept the label. In fact, they celebrate it.

The track was written as one of the band members, Mo Chara, faced charges of terrorism brought against him by the British government. In November 2024, Mo Chara allegedly committed a terrorist act by waving a Hezbollah flag at a London concert.

Kneecap is outspoken in its support for the Palestinian people, connecting the group to a longer history of Irish nationalists advocating for other colonised peoples.

The charges were dismissed. As Mo Chara observed in a recent interview, he’s not “the first Irish person to be called a terrorist”.

Who can use ‘Fenian’?

Although Kneecap celebrate being called “Fenians”, this word can still be understood as a cultural slur.

Recently, the band claimed it was forced to “censor” its album posters by blanking out the word Fenian. London transport authorities allegedly refused to publish the uncensored version.

Kneecap knows the power and the pain of this label, and they use it with intention. With a sense of tongue in cheek, they explain their use of the term refers to members of “a secret socialist society of sound cunts”. But they also acknowledge it can be weaponised as a derogatory slur. Context is everything.

“Fenian” can’t be untangled from a painful history of anti-Irish racism, which arguably lingers today.

It is appropriate for Kneecap to reclaim the word as a statement of cultural defiance. They use it as an empowering rejection of stigma. But it is problematic for others to use it without thinking of its deeper meaning.

Ciara Smart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Fenian: the anti-Irish history behind Kneecap’s defiant new album title – https://theconversation.com/fenian-the-anti-irish-history-behind-kneecaps-defiant-new-album-title-282271

May 10, 2026

New research highlights how wildfires are harming fish

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Philip N. Owens, Professor and FRBC Endowed Research Chair in Landscape Ecology, University of Northern British Columbia

As we transition into spring, wildfires are on the minds of many Canadians. In fact, wildfires have already started in some parts of the country.

Over the last decade, the land burned in Canada and many other parts of the world has increased, resulting in more socially and economically disastrous wildfires. Predictions indicate the Canadian situation could worsen over the next few decades as the climate warms and soils and forests get drier.

While the impacts on humans, forests and the animals that live in them are the most observable effects, wildfires also have devastating impacts on aquatic life, especially fish. Many of these occur during and shortly after the fire is out, but others can continue for years, and potentially, decades.

We recently published research conducted in British Columbia into how wildfires are affecting water resources and fish habitat. We used a rainfall simulator to instigate surface runoff and soil erosion at various sites impacted by the 2023 North Lucas Lake wildfire. We showed that erosion is much worse on severely burned and steep slopes.

More water in rivers

One of the immediate impacts on fish after a wildfire comes from the increase in water draining from the burned land and entering rivers. Without thick forest cover to store and use rainfall, more water runs off over the soil towards rivers.

In some situations, soil can become water-repellent, as gases from the burning vegetation enter and condense below the topsoil, forming a barrier and limiting the amount of rainfall that can infiltrate.

Erosion damage and burned trees in a forested area — Runoff and erosion following a wildfire in the Deadman River watershed, B.C.
(Philip Owens/UNBC), CC BY

The lack of vegetation also means that more heat from the sun reaches the snowpack, which causes snowmelt to occur faster and earlier. This adds to the amount of water entering rivers and also changes the annual timing of spring melt.

The increased supply of runoff entering rivers increases the volume and velocity of water, which can be problematic for fish, including young salmon that, in spring, may be emerging from spawning gravels. These shifts in timing can result in less flow in late summer and fall, a time when adult salmon return to spawn in their natal streams.

More sediment and debris

Roots normally hold the soil together. However, when forests are burned, the soil loses that support system. Our research shows that the lack of vegetation on hill slopes and the increase in runoff also cause more soil erosion.

This eroded sediment gets washed into rivers, increasing the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water. That can pose serious problems for fish that rely on sight to hunt. Particles in the water column can scratch exposed membranes and tissues, such as gills, eyes and skin, leading to physical damage and impaired function. In extreme cases, it can clog tissues and organs.

Some of the sediment gets deposited on the channel bed. This can smother important food sources, such as insect larvae, snails and worms, and fill in spaces in the gravels where salmon, sturgeon and other species would typically lay their eggs.

The blockage of these spaces in the channel bed prevents water from flowing through the gravels, which should deliver dissolved oxygen and remove harmful carbon dioxide from the gravels. This essentially leads to suffocation.

And there are often debris flows and landslides after wildfires in hilly and mountainous areas, sometimes many years later. This adds further sediment and debris, and in extreme cases can dam rivers, blocking fish stock passage, as happened at the Chilcotin River in British Columbia in 2024.

Another issue is the impact on water temperatures in rivers. Trees provide shade, but when they are gone, sunlight heats the water. Water temperatures are key to the health and survival of many fish and other species, with higher temperatures being a key stressor.

Harmful chemicals

four images of alevin with yolk sacs. One is healthy, the other three exhibit various deformities like a twisted tail and yolk edema. — Comparisons between healthy young Chinook salmon and those with deformities after being exposed to wildfire sediment and higher water temperatures at the Quesnel River Research Centre.
(Smriti Batoye/Quesnel River Research Centre), CC BY-NC-ND

Wildfires can cause chemicals to be flushed into rivers. Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, while not necessarily toxic, can cause changes in aquatic ecology and fish size in high concentrations due to wildfires.

They also contribute to harmful algal blooms in rivers and lakes. Evidence suggests that nutrients contained in wildfire ash is being deposited on lakes.

There are also often spikes in metals and organic contaminants in rivers and lakes after a fire. While these are natural byproducts of a fire, our research shows that they concentrate in soils and sediments following wildfires. We have determined that these chemicals can change fish behaviour, cause deformities or, at extreme levels, be toxic to fish.

Studies have also shown that fire retardants — chemicals used to control and extinguish fires — can be toxic to rainbow trout.

Protecting fish

It’s not a hopeless situation. Communities, organizations and Indigenous Peoples are developing innovative ways to help protect and remediate rivers and lakes following wildfires.

In British Columbia, the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund has funded projects to support salmon, including the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Wildfire Playbook. This resource compiles best practices and offers guidance to integrate salmon into wildfire recovery planning.

The Skeetchestn Indian Band is partnering with the Pacific Salmon Foundation and others using collaborative, multidisciplinary monitoring and research to understand how the Deadman River watershed is recovering following a catastrophic wildfire in 2021, and to help guide restoration priorities.

Elsewhere, others have investigated how beavers and artificially constructed beaver dams can protect aquatic ecosystems after wildfire.

Wildfires will continue to be part of our future. Knowing their impact on rivers and lakes will help communities make informed decisions around protecting fish and other aquatic life, and ultimately, sustain resilient watersheds.

Smriti Batoye, a postdoctoral fellow at UNBC’s Quesnel River Research Centre, co-authored this article.

Philip N. Owens receives funding from the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, Ecofish Research Ltd, Forest Renewal British Columbia, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund and the University of Northern British Columbia.

Ellen Petticrew receives funding from the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, Forest Renewal British Columbia, Natural Sciences and Engineering Canada, and the University of Northern British Columbia.

Jason Raine receives funding from the BC Salmon and Restoration Fund, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Forest Renewal BC, Natural Resources Canada: Multi-Partner Research Initiative, NSERC Alliance and the University of Northern British Columbia.

Kristen Kieta receives funding from the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund.

– ref. New research highlights how wildfires are harming fish – https://theconversation.com/new-research-highlights-how-wildfires-are-harming-fish-281127

May 10, 2026

Is an A still an A? The truth behind grade inflation

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Christopher DeLuca, Associate Dean, School of Graduate Studies & Professor, Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Ontario

Recently, a spate of news coverage has raised concerns about grade inflation in schools across Canada.

These concerns stem in part from policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was widespread cancellation of large-scale tests, freezing of grades during school closures and “compassionate” grading practices that accounted for students’ personal situations.

Together, these changes led to a spike in average student grades and spurred ongoing worries about grade inflation.

But these concerns aren’t new. Grades have been steadily rising in the United States and Canada for decades. Harvard University’s grade point average, for example, has risen almost every year since the 1950s. So just how serious is post-pandemic grade inflation?

What is grade inflation?

Grade inflation refers to the tendency for students to receive higher grades over time, on average.

Put simply, work that might have been awarded an 85 per cent in 1990 might now receive 90 per cent. The implicit assumption is that this rise in grades is unearned and that student performance has not actually improved.

If grades lose their signalling power — that is, if students, families, universities and employers cannot trust grades or no longer know what they mean — then selection, promotion and other important decisions get undermined.

The facts behind grade inflation

Most studies about grade inflation find that students’ average grades have increased steadily over time. Grade increases during the pandemic are also well-documented.

For example, between 2019 and 2021, average grades for Grade 12 students in the Toronto District School Board increased six per cent. Between 2016 and 2021, the percentage of A-level students taking the ACT, a standardized test for U.S. college admissions, rose more than 13 per cent.

Our search for published studies that document grade inflation in Canada since the pandemic did not yield any findings: there has been no concrete data from Canadian elementary or secondary schools on grades being inflated since 2021.

Current conversations about grade inflation often zero in on the role of grades in college and university admissions because most post-secondary programs use students’ grades in the admissions process.

As a CBC investigation of data from the Council of Ontario Universities has shown, entry averages for Grade 12 students have been rising for some time. Data from the council show that across 16 universities, the median entry grade rose from 81.4 per cent in 2006 to 88.2 per cent in 2021.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that at the University of Manitoba, 40 per cent of high school students admitted in 2024 had a grade of at least 95 per cent.

Post-secondary supply and demand

But a rising admissions average is different than grade inflation in elementary and secondary school. Increases in university admission averages are a function of multiple factors, most directly supply and demand.

Let’s take the Ontario data as an example. Between 2005 and 2022, the number of applications to Ontario’s universities rose 86.5 per cent. That’s 344,000 more applications. At the same time, the number of students who went on to register also rose, but only by 31.2 per cent.

That means that even if average grades had stayed the same, students with lower grades were increasingly less likely to get admitted because they are competing with more applicants. Demand is outpacing supply.

Avoiding difficult courses

The current supply and demand issue has real consequences on students’ pressure to get higher grades in secondary school. Sixty-one per cent of American teenagers say they feel pressured to get good grades. That focus on grades increases student anxiety and makes students more likely to avoid difficult courses.

Teachers and university instructors also report pressure to give good grades, especially when grades and graduation rates are used to evaluate performance.

These pressures are longstanding — there has always been pressure on students to perform and on teachers to award high grades — but the increased competition for seats in post-secondary provides additional fodder for grade inflation.

Providing additional provincial funding to increase spaces at universities and colleges could help address these pressures.

Why have grades increased?

There are multiple reasons grades increase. First, in almost every province, the share of people graduating high school has been increasing for years.

More high school graduates means more passing grades, which typically results in higher average grades.

And we want students to learn and achieve. On average, secondary school graduates live longer, earn more money and are less likely to be incarcerated.

Shifts in assessment policies, teaching

Second, teachers’ use of evidence-based teaching and assessment strategies is supporting better learning. Shifts in school assessment policies over the past 20 years help students better understand what the learning goals are and what success looks like. These also encourage feedback to close the gap between where students are and their learning goal.

Assessment policies have also separated assessing learning skills and habits from assessing curriculum content knowledge.

Manitoba’s assessment policy, for example, tells teachers to base grades on students’ actual achievement, not on things like effort, participation or attitude.

Such policies acknowledge that docked marks or zeroes are sometimes needed for late or missing work, but caution that such practices may misrepresent student achievement. If grades and behaviour aren’t reported separately, it becomes difficult to know what a “B-” grade represents, for example. It may mean proficient achievement, or it may mean “C-level work with A-level effort,” “A-level work that’s late” or something else.

Schools have also made evidence-based teaching advances, such as using differentiated instructional strategies and culturally responsive teaching. One expected result from these changes should be higher grades.

Is an A still an A?

The purpose of grades is to communicate student achievement. While that purpose is less important than the main purpose of assessment — to improve student learning — students, parents and other stakeholders still depend on grades to make decisions.

Importantly, and contrary to many people’s understanding, teachers don’t grade on a bell curve. There is no limit to the number of As and the quality of learning it represents. In fact, having more students achieving higher grades is good, if the grades are warranted and accurately reflect what students know and are able to do.

Should we be concerned?

Even though the pandemic created a spike in grades, the lack of research since means we do not accurately know the current state of grade inflation or how grades may be assigned differently across different groups of students (for example, across family income, race or gender).

While grades are increasing, they continue to hold their signalling power. Grades can still be trusted alongside other measures to make important decisions.

Even when grades rise, we shouldn’t assume that every rise is unearned or indefensible. The full picture is messier than that.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is an A still an A? The truth behind grade inflation – https://theconversation.com/is-an-a-still-an-a-the-truth-behind-grade-inflation-280653

May 10, 2026

No more ‘just say no’ — Canadian schools will soon have a roadmap to address student substance use

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Tonje Mari Molyneux, Research Scientist and Preventive Pedagogy Specialist, University of British Columbia

The message to students used to be simple: “Just say no.”

But in today’s schools, that message is not only outdated, it may be part of the problem.

Across Canada, student substance use is a growing concern. According to the most recent national student survey, 15 per cent of students in Grades 7-12 reported vaping in the past month, and 18 per cent identified using multiple substances at the same time. Many Grade 7 students could not identify the health risks of substances they can easily access.

Schools want to respond more effectively. But many are doing so without a clear roadmap.

New standard based on evidence

A new cross-Canada standard, to be officially launched soon, aims to change that. It sets out what evidence-informed substance use prevention, education and intervention should look like from kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12).

Rather than prescribing a single program, it provides a shared, evidence-informed framework, outlining the principles, practices and structures that are most likely to make a difference. And it’s designed to complement what provinces, territories and districts are already doing.

But the standard on its own won’t change what happens in schools. Without system-level support, even the best guidance risks sitting on a shelf.

Our national survey of more than 200 K–12 administrators highlights the gap. Nearly 90 per cent reported frequent student substance use challenges in schools, with vaping as the top concern. While almost two-thirds said they were willing to change their approach, far fewer felt they had the evidence, resources or support to do so effectively.

Without clear alternatives, many schools default to familiar responses, particularly zero-tolerance policies that can lead to suspension or expulsion — approaches that can sever the very connections that help buffer young people from substance use harms in the first place.

This isn’t a failing of individual educators. It’s a systems problem.

The new standard responds to the realities young people are navigating today, including the proliferation of vaping, the legalization of cannabis and an increasingly toxic drug supply. Without shared guidance, current approaches vary widely, and many still rely on scare tactics and abstinence-only messaging, which decades of research show don’t have a lasting impact.

The challenge extends beyond the classroom. Our analysis of nearly a decade of Canadian news coverage found that youth substance use is often framed as an individual problem, with young people portrayed as a threat to themselves.

Missing from these narratives are the broader social and structural factors that shape their substance use. This framing makes it harder for schools to adopt approaches that are more supportive, and ultimately, more effective.

How the new standard is different

The new standard was developed through a national partnership between Wellstream: The Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of British Columbia, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction and the Canadian Association of School System Administrators.

Physical Health and Education Canada and the Students Commission of Canada joined to support a robust implementation strategy. Educators, researchers, health professionals and Indigenous interest holders all contributed.

Young people also helped shape this work from the beginning. Youth were part of the technical committee and student voices are embedded as a guiding principle. Research shows that youth-partnered approaches are more relevant, more effective and better aligned with real-world experiences.

Different ages, different strategies

At its core, the standard recognizes a simple but often overlooked reality: What works for a 10-year-old will not work for a 17-year-old.

The new standard is organized around developmental stages and tiers of support. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all program, it outlines what effective practice looks like in terms of prevention, education and intervention — from building foundational social-emotional skills in early grades to providing targeted supports for older students who are already using substances.

The evidence is clear that effective approaches must evolve with development. Younger children benefit most from building personal competencies. Early adolescents respond to social norms approaches. Older adolescents require strategies focused on social influence and navigating life transitions.

Our own overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis confirmed that existing programs tend to produce only modest effects, partly because success is often defined too narrowly as abstinence. The new standard broadens this lens, emphasizing outcomes such as well-being, school connectedness and help-seeking.

It also calls for a shift away from punitive responses. When a student is found vaping, suspension may remove the behaviour temporarily, but it doesn’t address the underlying issue and can push them further away from help. In fact, long-term research shows that practices such as exclusionary discipline and increased police presence in schools are associated with higher rates of substance use over time.

Instead, the new standard emphasizes restorative approaches and support plans that prioritize health, safety and continued engagement in school.

What schools need to make this work

Even the strongest standard cannot succeed without the right conditions for implementation.

Educators are already stretched thin. Without dedicated time, resources and training, this risks becoming another well-intentioned but underused initiative.

To support implementation, the standard is accompanied by a self-assessment tool that helps schools identify where their existing practices align with the evidence and where there are opportunities to grow. Rather than functioning as an audit, it’s designed to support continuous improvement, allowing schools to set priorities based on their own context.

But meaningful change will require new tools and investment: time for professional learning, dedicated staff roles and stronger partnerships between education and health systems.

Supporting materials are in development to help bridge this gap. They include training resources, informational materials for school boards, families and students, a network of experienced practitioners and briefs showing how the standard connects to existing international, national and provincial frameworks.

The message to students can no longer be reduced to “just say no.”

Supporting young people today requires approaches that reflect the complexity of their lives — grounded in evidence, connection and care. Schools are ready to move beyond outdated responses. Now education systems must support them in doing so.

Reg Klassen, executive director at Canadian Association of School System Administrators and Ryan Fahey, manager, programs and education, at Physical and Health Education Canada co-authored this story.

This initiative was supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction through its federal funding. The standard was developed under the management of CSA Group.

Emily Jenkins receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through their Canada Research Chairs program.

– ref. No more ‘just say no’ — Canadian schools will soon have a roadmap to address student substance use – https://theconversation.com/no-more-just-say-no-canadian-schools-will-soon-have-a-roadmap-to-address-student-substance-use-280336

May 10, 2026

What the Montreal Canadiens’ hockey playoff run reveals about faith, belonging and the sacred

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Dr. Matt Hoven, Professor and Kule Chair at St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta

With the Montreal Canadiens now competing in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres, their fans, often described as les fidèles (the faithful), continue to show devotion for their beloved team, les Glorieux, in perhaps surprising ways.

One rabbi posted a prayer for the Canadiens on his Facebook page. A church in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., hosted watch parties for every playoff game. Some fans in Habs jerseys were even seen crawling up the steps to St. Joseph’s Oratory in the past.

The jerseys are called la sainte flanelle (the holy cloth), while some players wearing them are given otherworldly nicknames. Former NHL goaltenders Patrick Roy and Carey Price are called “St. Patrick” and “Jesus Price.” The late great Guy Lafleur was known as le démon blond.

These acts might look strange to outsiders. But as scholars of religion, we think they reveal something about why hockey matters so much to fans. People often find the religious or spiritual in everyday life, and hockey is no different.

We have written books about connections among sport, spirituality and religion, and told the story of “Hockey Priest” Father David Bauer, who sought higher ideals in the game.

We’re currently drafting a book about what matters most in hockey, centred around three things: beauty, belonging and believing. Together, these explain what is so out-of-the-ordinary and enchanting about hockey, and why it can move people so deeply.

Beauty

Plato, writing in the Phaedrus, described beauty as the thing that “causes the soul to grow wings.” He meant there is something transcendent about beauty, and that our appreciation of beautiful things carries us to higher truths.

Beauty lies at the heart of our attraction to hockey. Skilful displays on the ice — like stickhandling, booming shots and toe-drags — can lift our spirits. Seeing beauty come alive on the ice takes people beyond the humdrum of regular life and toward something transcendent or special.

Players like Lane Hutson stir a sense of wonder. Hutson’s skating and spatial intelligence have been exceptional in the playoffs. In Game 3 of the first round against Tampa Bay, he fielded a pass from Alexandre Texier and scored on a slap shot to win it for the Canadiens in overtime.

Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson delivers a game-winning slap shot in overtime during Game 3 against Tampa Bay.

Beauty is also seen in hockey’s personalities and unforgettable stories. In March 2025, after Brendan Gallagher’s mother died from a battle with Stage 4 brain cancer, a fan reached out to him on social media.

She had won his 2022 Hockey Fights Cancer jersey — the one on which he had written “I Fight For Mom” — at a Canadiens Children’s Foundation auction, and offered to give it back. He accepted, and in April 2025, the two met on the Bell Centre ice for a jersey swap.

It was a beautiful moment of humanity between the two.

Belonging

Belonging is a core spiritual need. When people feel part of a community, they have a greater sense of meaning, self-worth and hope. Hockey, at its best, enhances that sense of belonging.

Even the Canadiens’ nickname, the Habs (or les Habitants), refers to the early French settlers of Québec. The team has always carried a community’s identity, for better or for worse.

This playoff run has provided striking examples of the sport bridging real divides. On May 5, just before Game 1 of the Sabres-Canadiens series, Niagara Falls, on the Canada-U.S. border, glowed in the colours of both teams: the Horseshoe Falls in red and white for the Canadiens, the American Falls in blue and gold for the Sabres. Hockey has the power to unite even amid bitter political division.

The falls were not the only example of this. A week earlier, during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round between the Sabres and the Boston Bruins, the microphone cut out for singer Cami Clune during “O Canada.” Immediately, the crowd at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center stepped in themselves.

As a border city, Buffalo is the only NHL team to play both national anthems before every home game regardless of opponent as a sign of respect and connection.

This mattered more than it might have in another year and in a different political context. Just months earlier, during the 4 Nations Face-Off, fans jeered opposing anthems on both sides of the border. The Buffalo moment was a different kind of answer.

Believing

Researchers have shown that people find the sacred in many different things, including religion, gardening, music and sport. Wherever people find the sacred, they experience a sense of the extraordinary, ineffability and deeper meaning.

Psychologist Kenneth I. Pargament, in fact, defines spirituality as “the search for the sacred.” Philosophers Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Kelly argue that many people have lost the ability to experience the sacred in this secular age, and that sport is one of the few places where people still encounter wonder and beauty.

The thirst for meaning, beauty and wonder doesn’t go away. Hockey is one place where many seem to find a sense of mystery and uplifting hope, passion and awe. Discovering the sacred in hockey helps fans feel a part of something bigger than themselves; something that has meaning beyond the ordinary minutia. Intense moments in sport can bring fans an implicit sense of meaning.

The answer to meaning and happiness may not be a complicated big picture but in these smaller moments of discovering the sacred. But a word of caution: as Paragament and his team have found, when we discover the sacred in something, there are implications for our everyday lives.

Fans organize their schedules around game time. They invest in the team by buying jerseys, tickets and merchandise. They defend their teams fiercely against criticism. And when their team loses, particularly in an elimination game, the grief can be devastating.

That deep sense of loss is intensified for those who experience a sense of the sacred in hockey and their team. This intersection of spirituality with the meaning of hockey can explain why a loss can be more devastating that might seem understandable. For many people, hockey is more than just a game.

Right now, two Montréal teams are competing for championships. The Canadiens and the Sabres are tied after two games. The Victoire — Montréal’s PWHL team — are tied 1-1 with the Minnesota Frost in their semifinal, after captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored a triple-overtime winner on May 6.

Whether either team manages to bring a trophy home, the devotion surrounding both is already extraordinary.

– ref. What the Montreal Canadiens’ hockey playoff run reveals about faith, belonging and the sacred – https://theconversation.com/what-the-montreal-canadiens-hockey-playoff-run-reveals-about-faith-belonging-and-the-sacred-282227

May 10, 2026

Gay men have equal parenting rights in Canada — but not equal access to parenthood

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By S. W. Underwood, Lecturer, Sociology, Simon Fraser University

Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada in 2005, and through provincial changes to adoption and parentage laws, gay men have gained formal recognition as parents. But my recent research suggests that access to fatherhood for this cohort remains deeply unequal in practice.

In 2021, six per cent of male same-gender couples in Canada were raising children, compared with 24 per cent of female same-gender couples. While we have no data comparing their desire to parent, the gap points to a deeper reality.

Drawing on interviews with 23 Canadian prospective gay fathers, I found that restrictive pathways to parenthood shape which gay men can become parents. Equal rights, it turns out, have not translated into equal access.

For gay men, becoming parents is a complex, expensive and uncertain project.

Why gay fatherhood is harder to access

Gay men typically build families through highly bureaucratized processes, including traditional and gestational surrogacy, donors, foster care and public and private adoption.

Each comes with its own legal, financial and emotional demands. As a consequence, pursuing parenthood typically requires gay men to spend years planning, researching and co-ordinating across multiple institutions — from fertility clinics and lawyers to social workers and government agencies — and sometimes even across countries and jurisdictions.

Many prospective gay fathers become “project managers” of their own journey to parenthood. They must compare pathways, calculate costs and assess risks with no guarantee of success.

In my research, for example, I came one couple who spent years preparing for an adoption. Although they worried about whether it would become a permanent situation, they bought baby items while waiting for the adoption to be finalized. Unfortunately, the placement fell through. Such uncertainty can fuel an emotionally turbulent cycle of hope, loss and cautious optimism.

Cost is the greatest barrier and varies depending on the pathway.

Public adoption and foster care are affordable but involve long waits and limited control. Private adoption can cost between $15,000 and $30,000. Surrogacy, especially gestational surrogacy — where intended parents reimburse pregnancy-related expenses such as medical costs rather than pay a fee for the pregnancy — can exceed the recommended budget of $100,000.

Yet even lower-cost options come with hidden financial barriers. For example, prospective adoptive parents must pass home studies that assess whether they can afford to raise a child.

Wealthier men are better able to pursue surrogacy, which can offer greater control and a biological connection between parent and child. Men with lower incomes may be more likely to pursue adoption or foster care, which involve fewer choices, longer waits and uncertainty.

Once parents, finances still shape gay fathers’ families, including their access to leave and benefits.

Gay fathers face risk, uncertainty and scrutiny

The journey to gay fatherhood is also emotionally demanding.

Foster placements are temporary. Adoptions can fall through at the last minute. Surrogacy arrangements can fail. Some face repeated setbacks.

Prospective adoptive fathers are subject to background checks, home inspections, interviews and even psychological evaluations. Many of these screening processes exist to protect children and ensure stable placements. But when oversight is excessively burdensome or inconsistently applied, it can also create barriers that some cannot overcome.

In addition, gay men must often educate institutions, correcting parental forms that assume there is a mother or explaining their families to hospitals, schools and insurers.

These men are not just building families. They are working to make their families properly acknowledged within systems that were not designed for them.

What policymakers could do differently

These challenges demand attention as 2SLGBTQI+ families grow and policymakers in B.C. and Ontario, as well as other Canadian jurisdictions, revisit fertility and adoption funding, as well as aspects of child welfare and adoption systems.

Although adoption is only one possible outcome, most youth in care are never adopted. About 2,000 children in child welfare care are adopted each years, while at least 61,104 children and youth were in out-of-home care in Canada in 2022. Reducing barriers to male same-gender parents could help connect more children with stable, supportive homes.

The gap between formal equality and unequal access raises an important question: What does it really take to make gay fatherhood truly accessible? If access depends on income, free time and the ability to navigate complex systems, equality in law is not equality in practice.

There are practical ways to reduce these barriers. Governments could expand tax credits and other financial supports for adoption and surrogacy, standardize fertility coverage across provinces and reduce administrative hurdles.

Insurance companies could cover prospective parents whose costly journey through IVF may produce no viable embryos or pregnancies. Governments and social services can improve information and support so prospective queer parents do not need to research how to navigate these pathways alone. Medical services, insurance companies and law firms can also update policies to better recognize diverse families.

Legal recognition is only the beginning

Since 2005, Canada has made progress in recognizing the rights of 2SLGBTQI+ families. But recognition is not the same as access.

For many gay men, building a two-father family still requires navigating pathways that are complex, uncertain and costly. The significantly lower rates of gay fatherhood, compared with lesbian and heterosexual parenthood, suggest the cumulative effect of these barriers.

If policymakers are serious about supporting 2SLGBTQI+ families, this disparity should be treated as a policy problem. Until these barriers are addressed, Canada cannot claim that parenthood is accessible to all.

S. W. Underwood receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. Gay men have equal parenting rights in Canada — but not equal access to parenthood – https://theconversation.com/gay-men-have-equal-parenting-rights-in-canada-but-not-equal-access-to-parenthood-280554

May 10, 2026

Cameroon’s sacred and royal animals: could literature and futures thinking help save them?

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kenneth Nsah Mala, Expert in Environmental Humanities, Sustainability Science, Foresight and Futures Studies, University of Cologne

Certain animals, like the lion, carry deep cultural and spiritual significance. But they also face extinction. Library of Congress

In the grasslands and highlands of western Cameroon, some animals are believed to be sacred. Within the region’s indigenous kingdoms (fondoms), many of these animals are also considered to be royal. They include wild cats (like cheetahs, leopards, lions, tigers), buffaloes, elephants, porcupines, cowries (sea snails), and a brightly coloured bird called the Bannerman’s turaco.

These species carry deep cultural and spiritual significance. They are, for example, often used to decorate royals (kings, queens and queen mothers) or to award royal distinctions to deserving individuals. Their body parts can be used to make crowns, bedding, footstools, bangles or necklaces for royalty. Red feathers from the Bannerman’s turaco are used to distinguish warriors and hunters.

An ornate bird in a tree with a bright red head tuft, red wing tips and blue tail. — Bannermann’s turaco.
Henrik Grönvold

Here, indigenous cultural practices can both sustain and decimate biodiversity. The names of some of these animals, especially wild cats, are used as praise names for kings. But custom dictates that when these animals are found, they must be killed and taken to the palace as a tribute.

Most are either locally extinct or critically endangered. Except for cowries and porcupines, all these animals are included on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Biodiversity loss caused by humans is accelerating at alarming rates around the world. This includes biodiversity hotspots like the Congo Basin in central Africa, which Cameroon is part of. Thousands of species have been identified in the basin, 30% of which are endemic (native).

I am a scholar who works across disciplines. These include the arts, literature and cultural studies; environmental humanities; sustainability science; anticipatory governance and future generations; strategic foresight and futures studies.

In a recent study, I explored how literary creativity combined with foresight workshops might help change how people view these animals. Could they offer more hopeful futures for these unique species?

The role of literature

Literary texts like plays, poems and novels offer insights into dealing with climate and ecological challenges in the Congo Basin. (Even in the case of less popular but highly important species such as insects.)

This is the case in many works by anglophone Cameroonian authors, like Athanasius Nsahlai, Kenjo Jumbam, J.K. Bannavti, and John Nkengasong.

Their stories have the potential to warn against the destruction of royal and sacred animals. They can also help shape new visions for the future of biodiversity conservation.

I draw on postcolonial ecocriticism (the relationship between literature, culture, the environment and history) and narrative foresight (what stories can reveal about the future) in my study. I analyse how these books engage with royal and sacred animals in ways that challenge environmentally unfriendly cultural practices, and how they propose new forms of relations between humans and other animals.

Jumbam’s novella, Lukong and the Leopard, for instance, tells the story of a young man called Lukong. The son of an outcast from the Nso kingdom, he helps capture a lion. Surprisingly the king demands it be brought to his palace alive. Just as Lukong is to be decorated by the king, his father sneaks in. Fearing for his son’s life, he sets the lion free.

In a sense, the story challenges the old cultural practice of killing royal animals. It invites readers to change how they see and relate with these animals in order to protect them.

Workshops

Stories like this can then be taken into foresight workshop sessions. Narrative foresight meets group participation to create what is called participatory foresight. Participants and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds are brought together to explore future scenarios, the challenges that shape them and what can drive change.

As part of my research, I organised a day of participatory foresight workshops on #CongoBasinFutures and #RoyalAnimalsFutures in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Over 30 participants across a range of ages, genders and interests were brought together. They included teachers, researchers, environmentalists, farmers, nurses, writers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, students, civil society workers, policymakers, and indigenous kings (fons).

Using foresight tools, participants were asked to discuss motivations as well as historical barriers while envisioning more hopeful futures for royal and sacred animals. The workshops were designed to include literary narratives on the plight of these animals.

They drew on current trends and signals of change, like climate change, biodiversity loss and indigenous cultural practices. They imagined new futures and then collectively proposed several policy interventions that could be practical solutions.

Shaping better policies

Cameroon does have environmental laws aimed at protecting biodiversity, but they are not effectively implemented. My study – and our workshop – seeks to complement these laws and contribute to their effective use in practice. Ideas coming out of the workshop include:

Creative arts and education should be used to help raise awareness about protecting royal animals and biodiversity. This could include programmes like our workshop, creative competitions and updating educational curricula.
Instead of decorating those who kill, local hunters should be rewarded when they spot and report the presence of royal animals for monitoring and preservation. The use of artificial animal parts for traditional ceremonies should be encouraged.
Policy should encourage research into the controlled breeding of endangered royal and sacred animals and the promotion of ecotourism around these animals. Special parks and reserves could combine arts and royal animals to attract tourists. Revenue could improve livelihoods, sustain cultures, and promote environmental conservation.
Environmental regulation should be strengthened through collaboration with all stakeholders, including indigenous authorities and local communities. Hunting of certain animals could be regulated. Hunting seasons and quotas for certain species could be in place. Indigenous leaders and communities could be engaged to adapt and modernise cultural practices in an era of environmental collapse.

But we must move from recommendations into action. Otherwise, ideas from studies like this will remain good on paper only, like most environmental laws in Cameroon. If so, royal animals and other species will continue to be threatened by extinction.

Kenneth Nsah Mala receives funding from the University of Cologne (Germany), the British Council, and the School of International Futures (SOIF).

– ref. Cameroon’s sacred and royal animals: could literature and futures thinking help save them? – https://theconversation.com/cameroons-sacred-and-royal-animals-could-literature-and-futures-thinking-help-save-them-281160

May 8, 2026

After more than a century, Labour has lost Wales

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nye Davies, Lecturer in Politics, Cardiff University

After all the predictions, projections and polling permutations, Welsh Labour’s defeat has been confirmed.

In 1985, Welsh historian Gwyn Alf Williams described Labour majorities standing “like Aneurin Bevan’s memorial stones”. Forty years on, the stones have finally been eroded. On the worst day for the party in its history in Wales, even its leader, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat.

After more than a century as Wales’ dominant political force, the figures and symbols that once anchored Welsh Labour now lie broken.

The scale of the defeat is difficult to overstate. Losses in historic heartlands that have voted Labour consistently for more than a century represent a devastating indictment of a party that has long mistaken dominance for consent. This is not a routine electoral setback, but a collapse.

Short-term factors played their part. Welsh Labour’s decision to abandon its “standing up for Wales” rhetoric and attach itself to an unpopular Keir Starmer-led UK government led the party to surrender one of its strongest political identities.

Furthermore, the short-lived, scandal-ridden leadership of Vaughan Gething, and an incumbency backlash among certain voters, contributed to Labour’s worst-ever Senedd result. But while these factors shaped the timing and scale of the loss, they cannot by themselves explain it.

This election marks a reckoning that has been coming for a while. After more than a century of political dominance, the myths and symbols that sustained Welsh Labour (and the idea that Labour is Wales, and Wales is Labour), have finally withered. The defeat reflects not simply a bad campaign or unpopular leaders, but a party that has run out of steam and ideas.

Since devolution, Welsh Labour has spoken the language of radical politics while failing to realise radical outcomes. Limited powers and constrained budgets are real obstacles, but they do not excuse the absence of political ambition from a party that has governed Wales uninterrupted for nearly three decades. Few parties in democratic systems have enjoyed such long-term dominance; Welsh Labour has failed to take advantage of it.

Longer-term decay

The electoral collapse reflects a deeper unwillingness to confront Wales’ long-term material decline. Across health, housing, education and the economy, rhetorical ambition has been undermined by narrow, managerial interventions. Child poverty remains entrenched, educational standards have declined and the NHS is under sustained pressure. Progressive language has failed to translate into material improvement.

In defending Wales against Tory austerity, Welsh Labour neglected the harder task of articulating what Wales could become and how devolved powers could be wielded effectively to improve people’s lives. The result has been a politics that speaks the language of progress while leaving the structures of inequality largely untouched.

Over time, this gap between promise and experience has eroded trust. In an era of weakening party attachment and fluid political identities, historical loyalty can no longer be relied upon. The continued invocation of figures such as Aneurin Bevan may still resonate within the party but beyond this, their power has faded. Nostalgia has become a liability, especially when it substitutes for critical reflection or ideological renewal. Welsh Labour came to mistake familiarity for consent.

bronze statue of nye bevan in cardiff. — Welsh Labour can no longer rely on the legacy of ‘father of the NHS’ Nye Bevan.
Steve Travelguide/Shutterstock

The Senedd election result is not a rejection of progressive values, but of Labour’s symbolic performance of them. Many voters were not turning away from radical ambition when they voted for Plaid Cymru; they were seeking a party they believed could still embody it. Welsh politics has often been defined by its radical traditions – and progressive voters have put their faith in Plaid to inherit them.

One-party dominance insulated Welsh Labour from the pressures that force political renewal. When that dominance finally fractured, the party found itself unable to articulate an alternative sense of purpose.

The collapse, therefore, is not a sudden termination, but the culmination of a prolonged period of stagnation. The majorities once symbolised by Aneurin Bevan’s memorial stones have been gradually eroded, enduring for decades but now standing merely as reminders of a Labour legacy that no longer finds resonance in Wales.

Nye Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. After more than a century, Labour has lost Wales – https://theconversation.com/after-more-than-a-century-labour-has-lost-wales-282549

May 8, 2026

Antarctic sea ice defied global warming for decades – now, hidden ocean heat is breaking through

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Aditya Narayanan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Southampton; UNSW Sydney

For decades, Antarctica seemed to defy global warming. Since satellites began monitoring the poles in the late 1970s, the seasonal growth and retreat of Antarctic sea ice – frozen seawater that expands around the continent each winter – appeared remarkably resilient. It was often described as the “heartbeat of the planet”.

Unlike the Arctic, where sea ice declined rapidly as the planet warmed, Antarctic sea ice showed little overall loss. It even expanded between 2007 and 2015. But that resilience has now broken.

Since 2015, Antarctic sea ice has declined sharply. In 2023, winter sea ice extent fell to record lows — so far below the long-term average that scientists considered it an event with roughly a one-in-3.5-million probability of occurring by chance.

Antarctica was long considered a part of the climate system expected to change slowly. The speed of the recent sea ice decline has therefore come as a shock.

Scientists did expect Antarctic sea ice to shrink as the planet warmed, but not this quickly. The downturn over the past decade was not predicted by the climate models used to understand how the continent responds to warming. This makes the recent decline especially concerning: it suggests things may be unfolding faster, or in different ways, than our models can fully capture.

This matters because sea ice reflects sunlight back into space and helps drive ocean currents that lock away heat and carbon deep underwater. Its decline will have consequences for the climate and for Antarctica’s unique ecosystems that rely on it.

A fundamental shift

In our new scientific study, we show that the ocean around Antarctica has undergone a fundamental shift. Heat that had been trapped deep below the surface is now rising upwards, where it can melt sea ice.

A penguin family — Emperor penguins are officially endangered, as of April 2026. The animals live almost entirely on Antarctic sea ice.
vladsilver / shutterstock

The chain of events that triggered this change began decades ago. Around Antarctica, winds strengthened as a result of the ozone hole and greenhouse gas emissions. These stronger winds acted like a pump, gradually drawing warm, salty deep water closer to the surface.

For years, the sea around Antarctica – the Southern Ocean – was strongly layered, with cold fresh water sitting on top of warmer, saltier water below. That layering stopped the heat from reaching the surface.

But eventually the barrier weakened. By 2015, warmer deep water had risen close enough to the surface for storms and strong winds to churn it upwards.

The waters around Antarctica have since become trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle. Rising deep water brings heat and salt to the surface. The heat melts sea ice, while the extra salt makes the surface waters denser and easier to mix with warmer waters below. That allows even more heat to rise upwards, making it harder for new sea ice to form, and so on.

The consequences are not only physical. Antarctic sea ice supports one of the world’s most distinctive ecosystems. Algae grow on and under the ice, feeding krill, which in turn sustain penguins, seals, whales and seabirds. Low sea ice has already been linked to mass drowning of emperor penguin chicks – putting the entire species at risk. A long-term shift to lower sea ice cover would therefore reshape not only the climate itself, but also the living Southern Ocean.

This is not just a regional story. Antarctic sea ice acts like a mirror, reflecting sunlight and helping keep the planet cool. As it shrinks, more heat is absorbed by the ocean. At the same time, changes in the Southern Ocean circulation could reduce the ocean’s ability to store heat and carbon.

In the past, Antarctica helped buffer global warming. Our results suggest it may now be shifting in the opposite direction.

Whether this marks a permanent change remains uncertain. But if low sea ice conditions persist, the Southern Ocean could start to accelerate global warming rather than limit it.

Aditya Narayanan received funding from the NERC DeCAdeS project (NE/T012714/1).

Alessandro Silvano receives funding from NERC (NE/V014285/1).

Alberto Naveira Garabato does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Antarctic sea ice defied global warming for decades – now, hidden ocean heat is breaking through – https://theconversation.com/antarctic-sea-ice-defied-global-warming-for-decades-now-hidden-ocean-heat-is-breaking-through-282356