Tonya Wimmer has gotten used to being the bearer of bad news. Every time someone spots a dead right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence—which has happened eight times this year alone—her Halifax-based organization, the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), gets the call. Then it’s Wimmer’s job to notify scientists, government officials and conservation […]
Environment
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New IPCC report flags diet and land-use changes to curb climate chaos
Land and agriculture are critical components in the climate crisis. According to a new Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change report, land use—including agriculture and forestry—accounts for 23 percent of human greenhouse gas emissions, while “natural land processes absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to almost a third of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry.” […]
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Nova Scotia’s golden addiction to toxic mining
David Clark remembers where he was the day the trouble started. He was walking through the woods on his property in Melrose, a small community on the St. Mary’s River, a two-and-a-half-hour drive east of Halifax. Sun shone through the trees. Beams of light landed on the small brook. The rolling water sparkled. It added […]
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Deniers deflated as climate reality hits home
Climate science deniers are becoming desperate as their numbers diminish in the face of incontrovertible evidence that human-caused global warming is putting our future at risk. Although most people with basic education, common sense and a lack of financial interest in the fossil fuel industry accept what scientists worldwide have proven through decades of research, […]
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Climate protection is not a partisan issue
Media and politicians often regard environmentalists as a special interest group with political priorities served by “green” parties. If a Green politician isn’t present or allowed to participate in a public debate, journalists tend to eschew environmental questions, considering them the purview of the absent party. It’s absurd to think an issue like climate change […]
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Avoiding climate chaos means zeroing in on emissions
We’re caught in a bad cycle. Global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, causing more extreme weather events and temperature swings. Hotter than normal weather in some places and colder in others means more people are using heat and air conditioning, which creates more emissions… According to a statistical review by oil and gas company […]
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Climate change and biodiversity should be top headline news
When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report in October warning of how quickly we’re advancing toward irreversible climate chaos, it led the —for a day. A massive study in May by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services about rapid wildlife extinction met a similar fate. In Canada, issues […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: True leaders work for us, not the fossil fuel industry
Some politicians believe protecting a sunset industry’s interests is more important than looking out for the citizens who elected them. In Australia, the coal industry holds sway over government policy. In Canada, bitumen and fracked gas rule. In the US, it’s all of the above. Fortunately, many people, especially youth, are heeding the rational voices […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Government support for electric vehicles drives down emissions
Electric vehicles won’t save us from runaway climate change, but they’re part of the solution, along with support for public transit and active transport like walking and cycling. The transportation sector accounts for almost one-quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, so it’s an area where change is necessary and possible. As Norway and other countries […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: What do we do when the cathedral burns?
When Paris’s Notre Dame caught fire on April 15, the flames threatened more than eight centuries of culture and history. The fire evoked shock, horror and grief worldwide. While the cathedral burned, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed determination to rebuild what the French regard as a sacred site. Beset by divisive “yellow vest” demonstrations, the […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: When does plant and animal species loss become a societal crisis?
It’s heartening, in the midst of the human-caused sixth mass extinction, to find good wildlife recovery news. As plant and animal species disappear faster than they have for millions of years, Russia’s Siberian, or Amur, tigers are making a comeback. After falling to a low of just a few dozen in the mid-20th century, the […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: As fracking booms, report finds we know little about impacts
Earthquakes, methane emissions, scarred landscapes, water depletion and contamination are just a few known effects of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. There’s also a lot we don’t know—but that hasn’t stopped governments and industry from throwing caution to the wind and fracking as if there’s no tomorrow. Fracking wells in Saskatchewan multiplied a hundredfold in 10 […]
