SINGAPORE: After a tree fell and killed two tourists in Bali earlier in December, authorities said the plant had been healthy and that the incident was caused by “strong winds and extreme weather conditions beyond human control”. Similar accidents involving falling trees have caused deaths, damaged property and disrupted traffic in other parts of Asia, including Singapore. What … Read more
HOW CANINES KEEP THE CITY SAFE Gentle and good-natured, Lucy is part of an elite team of sniffer dogs, specially selected and trained for the job. When she gets a whiff of the scent of the disease, she sits next to the tree to indicate her find. It takes at least two detection canines to … Read more
Paleontologists have uncovered dozens of fossils in northern B.C., only one of which came from a dinosaur that was previously known to that area. Victoria Arbour, curator of paleontology at the Royal B.C. Museum, said it was her team’s third time to the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park, southeast of Dease Lake. The area is … Read more
Wildlife researchers are optimistic for the future of the critically endangered Vancouver Island marmot species, after they counted a record 86 wild-born pups this summer. The Vancouver Island marmot, which is endemic to its namesake, is one of the country’s most endangered species. The Marmot Recovery Foundation estimates there were fewer than 30 in the wild about 20 years … Read more
There are the Siamese Twins: two sequoias that grew so close together they form a single mass for the first 15 metres (50 feet), before splaying towards the clouds. The Pioneer Cabin Tree in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Photo: AFP There is Old Bachelor, an ancient gnarled specimen whose upper reaches are dead and … Read more
Disease-resistant seedlings of an endangered tree species are doing well during their first season in a western Quebec forest, according to the conservation group that planted them. Butternut trees are native to Canada and can be found in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. But over the last 30 or so years, canker disease has wiped out … Read more
Tiny grains of sand from the Sahara Desert are to blame for the almost month-long lull in this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, scientists say. But it could soon come to an end. Every June and July, there is a peak in the amount of dust from the North African desert that is lifted high above … Read more
A new generation of birders is embracing the hobby and making it their own. Birding, bird watching, is the observation of birds in nature. Many participants also capture photographs or sound recordings of their sightings, and keep track of the species they’ve seen throughout their lives. In Sudbury, Ont., a Facebook group is providing a … Read more
For the first time, the Canadian government has conducted a rapid analysis of a period of extreme heat and determined its connection to human-caused climate change. The analysis conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) found that a heat wave in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada between June 17 and 20 was made two … Read more
Decades ago, McMaster University paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Now the Hamilton post-secondary school is looking to reverse course and “re-wild” its west campus that sits beside the Cootes Paradise nature sanctuary. The strategy is part of its new master plan developed by international design firm BDP. The project is the firm’s first for a … Read more
