How mapping tree genomes can help plant forests resilient to climate change

A research team at the University of Alberta is looking into why some trees in Alberta are more resilient when faced with drought, disease and the risk of wildfires by sequencing tree genomes.  A genome is the genetic makeup of an organism, and the thought behind sequencing tree genomes is that it’ll help inform what trees have … Read more

Climate change could become main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century: Study

NEW DELHI: Climate change could become the main driver of biodiversity decline by the mid-century, a new research has found. Studying changes in land-use patterns and their impacts on biodiversity, an international team of researchers found that biodiversity around the world could have declined by 2-11 per cent. “By including all world regions in our … Read more

An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet

Quirks and Quarks19:12An Indigenous ecologist on why we need to stop and listen to save the planet Indigenous ecologist Jennifer Grenz has spent decades working to protect ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest through restoration and invasive species management. But recently, frustrated by the limitations of her work, she set out on a mission to incorporate … Read more

‘CSI on the ocean’: Whale researchers comb B.C. waters for eDNA

It was just after 8 a.m. when Gary Sutton and his crew spotted the signature black dorsal fins cutting through the cool waters of the Salish Sea, off the coast of Vancouver Island. More than a dozen Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transient killer whales, swimming north in search of food. They surfaced every few minutes, the spray of their … Read more

Bird flu is decimating seal colonies. Scientists don’t know how to stop it

PORTLAND: Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don’t see a clear way to slow the devastating virus.The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of millions of domesticated birds and spread … Read more

Bottom-contact fishing banned near rare Central Coast coral reef

Federal authorities have closed Canada’s only known live coral reef in the Pacific Ocean to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the indefinite closure came into effect on Feb. 14 for the Lophelia Reef, located in the Finlayson Channel of British Columbia’s Central Coast, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver and 200 kilometres directly east of … Read more

Human-caused climate change fuels hottest February on record, all-time high ocean warming

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world’s oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus. The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren’t just the hottest for … Read more

World temperatures go a full year above 1.5 C warming limit, EU scientists say

The world just experienced its hottest January on record, continuing a run of exceptional heat fuelled by climate change, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. Last month surpassed the previous warmest January, which occurred in 2020, in C3S’s records going back to 1950. The exceptional month came after 2023 ranked … Read more

Why scientists are hoping landscaping gravel can help restore Nova Scotia’s kelp

In a converted shipping container perched oceanside in Ketch Harbour, N.S., a group of people gather to peer into tanks filled with fuzzy pieces of gravel.  The rocks are covered with tiny blades of sugar kelp. Soon, the squares of steel mesh they’re fixed to will be suspended in the water at a kelp farming demonstration … Read more