[Image-1] If you fly over a forest and look down, you’ll see every green tree and plant reaching to the heavens to absorb the ultimate energy source: sunlight. What a contrast when you look down on a city or town with its naked roofs, asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks, all ignoring the sun’s beneficence! Research […]
environment
Posted inNews + Opinion
SCIENCE MATTERS: Tread lightly to lift the weight of the world
[Image-1] How much stuff will you give and receive this holiday season? Add it to the growing pile—the 30-trillion-tonne pile. That’s how much technology and goods humans have produced, according to a study by an international team led by England’s University of Leicester. It adds up to more than all living matter on the planet, […]
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Richard Zurawski wants a science advisory committee at city hall
[Image-1] It’s foolhardy to make decisions without the proper advice, which is one reason councillor Richard Zurawski wants to create a science advisory committee for HRM. “When you start talking about the politics and the decisions without a science council, you’re stabbing in the dark,” says the councillor for Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park-Wedgewood. Zurawski broached the idea […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Indigenous people hold the key to caribou survival
[Image-1] When government biologists in Canada want to learn where caribou are, they put radio-tracking collars on some animals and monitor their movements. This gives them a rough idea of where herds are and where they travel, but it doesn’t tell them much about a caribou population’s history—travel routes before their habitat was degraded or […]
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Halifax’s recycling plant in need of expansion
[Image-1] The good news is Halifax is recycling more. The bad news is all those extra bottles and cans have put HRM’s recycling plant past its operational capacity. Currently the Bayers Lake facility can process 28,000 tonnes annually. In July, Regional Council approved an expansion to raise that limit by an additional 8,000 tonnes. The expansion […]
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Coastal erosion is threatening two of Point Pleasant Park’s historic monuments
Waves off the coast of Point Pleasant Park are threatening to sweep away two of the park’s most historic military sites. According to an update to the Point Pleasant Park Comprehensive Long Term Plan, published in September, the Bonaventure Anchor faces relocation while the Point Pleasant Battery will either be buried or demolished in coming […]
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Going it alone
It’s been a year since Andrew Younger was ousted from the provincial Liberal caucus and premier Stephen McNeil’s cabinet. An experienced politician, going back to his days as a member of Halifax Regional Council representing East Dartmouth-The Lakes, Younger is now the independent MLA for Dartmouth East, a seat he first won in 2009. He’s […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Extinction crisis signals that it’s time to change course
[Image-1] Clean air, water and soil to grow food are necessities of life. So are diverse plant and animal populations. But as the human population continues to increase, animal numbers are falling. There’s a strong correlation. A comprehensive report from the World Wildlife Federation and the Zoological Society of London found that wild animal populations […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Hard work and love trump fear and hate
[Image-1] Now what? Many people in the United States and around the world are dismayed that a bigoted, misogynistic, climate change denier has been elected to the highest office in what is still the world’s most powerful nation. His party controls the House and Senate, meaning pro-fossil-fuel, anti-climate-action representatives who reject overwhelming and alarming scientific […]
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Conservationists sound off on proposed Keji clearcuts
[Image-1] No forest is an island; entire of itself. While the Department of Natural Resources has given the go-ahead on 94 hectares of a proposed clearcut near Kejimkujik National Park, and even though no cutting will be done in the park itself, Chris Miller warns there may still be consequences for the much-loved area. “None […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: “World class” may not mean much when it comes to oil spill response
[Image-1] In July, a pipeline leak near Maidstone, Saskatchewan, spilled about 250,000 litres of diluted oil sands bitumen into the North Saskatchewan River, killing wildlife and comprising drinking water for nearby communities, including Prince Albert. It was one of 11 spills in the province over the previous year. In October, a tugboat pulling an empty […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Food security is important for humans and other animals
[Image-1] As leaves change colour and drop from trees, and a chill in the air signals the approach of winter, many of us are thinking of the fall harvest and hearty soups and dishes that will soon warm our bellies. Not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy such thoughts. About four million Canadians—including more than […]
