Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday. This week: Climate change is forcing chimps to confront their fears An award-winning photo captures a devastating fire season New Brunswick moves to pay farmers for conservation … Read more
Fire is sucking the life out of parts of the Amazon rainforest. In Roraima State, in northern Brazil, the number of fires in February were more than five times the average, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, and blazes continued to burn through March. “We are losing the Amazon rainforest. These … Read more
An international environmental organization is calling on the federal government to step up protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales beyond the 2023 measures it’s opting to repeat this year, noting birth rates are already below expectations for the season and at least three of the 19 calves born so far are believed to have died. Oceana Canada campaign director Kim … Read more
Astronomer David Lane, who created the world’s first telescope controlled by social media at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, died late last month following a nine-month battle with brain cancer. Lane was born in Germany in 1963 before moving to Hebbville, N.S., where he grew up, according to his obituary. He worked at Saint Mary’s University for 29 years, starting … Read more
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
A new report says the federal government is providing billions of dollars in financial support for the fossil fuel industry, despite measures announced last year to limit certain types of subsidies for the oil and gas industry. The analysis, released today by the advocacy group Environmental Defence, estimated that Ottawa offered up at least $18.6 … Read more
For the shellfish industry, high fecal counts detected in areas where shellfish such as oysters are harvested can mean long — and costly — closures. The fecal matter is associated with human-borne viruses, like norovirus, but the tests that are typically used to measure the fecal matter don’t distinguish between different types of animals, including … Read more
Quirks and Quarks19:36Water, water, everywhere. But will we have enough to drink? After a winter that smashed heat records, researchers around the world are taking a close look at how human disturbances and the rapidly changing climate are affecting the world’s freshwater supply. “We’re reducing both water quantity and water quality,” says Katrina Moser, an associate professor … Read more
6:39Scientists try to unravel the case of 1,300 mysteriously preserved human brains Oxford University’s Alexandra Morton-Hayward spends her days surrounded by brains — literally. The undertaker-turned-scientist is trying to unravel why some human brains remain remarkably well-preserved after death, sometimes for thousands of years, even when all other soft tissue has long decayed. And anyone … Read more
The Biden administration on Wednesday slashed its target for U.S. electric vehicle adoption from 67 per cent by 2032 to as little as 35 per cent after industry and autoworker backlash in the political battleground state of Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) instead adopted a “technology neutral” regulatory scheme that allows automakers far more freedom … Read more
