In this week’s issue of our environment newsletter, we look at well-meaning but complicated efforts to create and certify plastic-free plastic and where things stand with the federal government’s two-billion-trees pledge. Also: Another way to look at the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This …
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Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon
Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed when its Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space program. Country’s 1st moon mission in 47 years fails ahead of planned …
Read More »Not so solitary predators? Great white shark duo appear to be travelling together
Jekyll and Simon keep showing up in all the same places — which is weird, because they are great white sharks. The apex predators are widely believed to be solitary creatures, not dependent on family networks or group dynamics to navigate the oceans. Jekyll and Simon have followed a surprisingly …
Read More »A Pacific marine heat wave has arrived in B.C. waters. Here’s what it means for ocean life
A warm water mass that has been heating up the Pacific for months has arrived in B.C. waters — raising alarms about what impact the temperatures could have on marine life native to the coast. A warm water mass that started heating up in May has been pushed towards the …
Read More »Our oceans are the warmest in recorded history. This is why it’s so concerning
How are our oceans being affected by rising global temperatures? From the threat of a disruption to a vital ocean circulation, to La Niña and El Niños, to the poles, we take a look at how they are changing. ‘What happens in the oceans doesn’t stay in the oceans,’ says …
Read More »Birds Canada calls on British Columbians to help ID dead seabirds amid marine heat wave
A marine heat wave off the Pacific coast has scientists worried about mass deaths. Scientists worried warmer waters will cause mass deaths due to starvation. It’s a different kind of bird watching. Birds Canada is asking British Columbians to help monitor dead seabirds found on shorelines to help scientists better …
Read More »San Francisco robotaxi traffic jam is a warning to the world, says city official
The day after California approved an expansion of driverless taxis, 10 of them came to a grinding halt on a busy San Francisco street, creating a gridlock that encompassed several blocks. 10-car back-up of autonomous taxis came blamed on wireless bandwidth issues during popular music festival. The day after California …
Read More »B.C. researchers hunting for Vancouver backyards to run IQ tests on trash pandas
UBC researchers are looking for city residents to volunteer their yards so they can set up a series of cognitive tests to better understand just how smart raccoons are. UBC’s Urban Wildlife Project aims to better understand the cognitive abilities of raccoons. Just how smart is the average city trash …
Read More »Look at a map of Quebec. How did that giant circle get there?
How a six-kilometre-long space rock formed the crater that’s known as the Eye of Quebec. Scientists believe the impact from a giant space rock formed the ‘Eye of Quebec.’ I love it when people say, “Once you see it, you can never unsee it.” One example is what’s been called …
Read More »Churchill on track for record number of polar bear reports this season, conservation officers say
Conservation officers in Churchill, Man. say they’re on track to respond to a record number of calls about polar bears wandering into the Hudson Bay town this season. There have been 76 calls reporting polar bears this season, up from 18 last year. Conservation officers in Churchill, Man. say they’re …
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