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Jaela Bernstien is a bilingual (English/Français) journalist and storyteller based in Montreal, Quebec. She has over a decade of experience reporting for print and broadcast daily news. 


In recent years, her in-depth reporting on climate change has received several awards including a Digital Publishing award and a National RTDNA.


Her work has appeared on CBC.ca, The National, World Report, Maclean's and The Globe and Mail.

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RECENT WORK

A selection of my latest stories

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DISCOVER WHERE ANCIENT RIVERS FLOW UNDER CANADIAN CITIES

April 3, 2024

Buried rivers flow under Canadian cities, hidden in a labyrinth of tunnels and sewer pipes. Will we revive them or let the waterways fade from memory?

BILLIONS OF LITRES OF WATER ARE USED YEARLY BY QUEBEC'S MINING AND METAL INDUSTRY, DATA REVEALS

February 2, 2024

Quebec has lifted the veil of secrecy around the province's biggest water users, revealing that billions of litres of water are withdrawn yearly by the mining and metal industry, along with pulp and paper manufacturing.

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DOES YOUR GENERATION HAVE IT BETTER OR WORSE? 

September 6, 2023

Children born today may never experience the world as you’ve known it. How does the temperature over your lifetime compare to other generations? Discover your personal climate stripes.

HOW HOT AND HUMID WILL YOUR CITY BE IN THE FUTURE?

July 18, 2023

Use this personalized humidex forecast tool to discover how climate change could affect the number of muggy days where you live.

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TIES BETWEEN PENSION FUND DIRECTORS AND FOSSIL FUELS ARE 'INCOMPATIBLE' FOR SOME CANADIANS

Mar 17, 2023

Despite mounting pressure from Canadians who want their money to stop supporting oil and gas, the majority of the country's largest pension fund managers continue to invest in that sector — and are led by individuals with close ties to fossil fuel companies.

WHY DON'T WE TALK ABOUT ACID RAIN AND THE OZONE HOLE ANYMORE? SCIENTISTS DEBUNK MISINFORMATION

Jan 28, 2023

If you're over 30, you likely remember a time when there was a lot of hand-wringing and furrowed brows over the ozone hole and skin cancer, as well as the threat of acid rain destroying ecosystems. Yet the success stories of how those threats were tackled are often overlooked, if not outright denied.

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WHAT ONE REGION'S WATER LEVEL WOES REVEAL ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER

Dec 27, 2022

Strolling along the shore of his home on Ault Island, about 30 minutes west of Cornwall, Ont., Cliff Steinburg points to the end of his dock. He says this summer there was less than a foot of water there, making it impossible to launch a boat. He worries what next year will bring to a region known for its fishing, beaches, and boating.

CANADA, HOST OF THE UN BIODIVERSITY SUMMIT, IS STRUGGLING TO MEET ITS OWN TARGETS

Oct 09, 2022

Canada has a wealth of wildlife and nature, but more species are at risk than ever. An analysis on stalling species protection ahead of the UN global biodiversity summit in Montreal

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A TINY FRACTION OF THE HIGH SEAS ARE PROTECTED. WHY A UN TREATY IS NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER

Aug 26, 2022

A Canadian mining company is eyeing the seafloor as a resource to harvest as climate change, fishing, shipping and resource extraction encroach on one of the last wild places on Earth. Why calls for a UN high seas treaty are more urgent than ever.

ENDURING THE HEAT

July 26, 2022

What’s it like to live with heat?
Meet Canadians enduring extreme heat in cities, and the changemakers pushing for solutions

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SWELTERING CITIES

July 13, 2022

An online interactive story about why cities are one of the most dangerous places to be during a heat wave.

COOLING CANOPY

July 13, 2022

An online interactive story about how Canadian cities can save lives by improving access to shade.

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CANADA'S GOLDEN CROP ISN'T BUILT FOR HEAT. CANOLA BREEDERS HOPE TO FIX THAT

Aug 20, 2022

Farmers are adapting practices to climate change, but say they need help from genetics

WHAT'S A DERECHO AND WHY IS IT SO DESTRUCTIVE? THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE POWERFUL STORM

May 25, 2022

When Canadian tornado expert David Sills studied the forecast on Saturday morning, he never expected the line of storms headed for Windsor, Ont., would soon strengthen into Canada's first derecho in decades, wreaking havoc across southern Ontario and Quebec.

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INNOVATIVE ATLAS PUTS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE ON THE MAP — LITERALLY — TO HELP TACKLE CLIMATE CRISIS

Mar 15, 2022

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw spent his childhood on Gitxsan territory in the Northwest Interior of British Columbia, and he's seen the dramatic ways climate change has altered the land where he grew up. He's used his first-hand experience to bridge the gap between Indigenous knowledge and Western science, and to help create a new interactive tool aimed at understanding and addressing climate change in Canada

QUEBEC ENTREPRENEUR, 93, DONATES CHERISHED ISLAND AFTER PROTECTING IT FROM CITY SPRAWL

Dec 14, 2021

For most of his adult life, Thor Vikström has watched the seasons change and the birds come and go from the small Quebec island he's owned that sits opposite his riverside home in Laval, Que.


At 93, he says he's at peace knowing the land — nestled between Montreal and Laval — will remain protected long after he's gone now that he's donated it.

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HAZARA EXPATS FROM AFGHANISTAN GRAPPLE WITH THEIR OWN TRAUMA WHILE HELPING OTHERS ESCAPE

Aug 22, 2021

Halima Bahman may be sitting in the safety of her home in the suburbs north of Toronto, but her mind is thousands of kilometres away in Afghanistan, where the Taliban's renewed grip on power makes her fear the worst for family and friends.

MACLEAN'S: WHEN IT'S TIME TO GIVE BACK

June 22, 2021

After surviving European incursions, colonialism and a 500-km journey from its home, a 171-year-old beaded hood must wait a bit longer before it can go back to Eeyou Istchee, James Bay Cree territory in northern Quebec ...

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DOCUMENTARY: WHAT IT'S LIKE LIVING IN MONTREAL'S TENT CITY

Dec 4, 2020

The story of Michel Groulx, one of the people camping in a makeshift tent city that sprang up in Montreal

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