In this week’s issue of our environment newsletter, we look at the efficacy of carbon removal and examine the pros and cons of AI as a climate solution. Also: Do we need another giant cruise ship? Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This weekly newsletter is part of …
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Hungry, hungry otters may help marshes with climate change
A new study in the journal Nature shows that strengthening populations of sea otters in a California salt marsh is changing its physical landscape to become more climate-resilient and less affected by soil erosion. And it comes down to something as simple as what they’re eating. They eat a lot …
Read More »Purple haze, don’t know why? Here’s the science behind the colourful fog seen in B.C.’s Okanagan
Some residents of B.C.’s Okanagan Valley were briefly enveloped in shades of pink and purple this morning, when a hued fog appeared for several minutes. It’s an ‘incredibly rare phenomenon,’ a CBC science specialist says. Hued fog an ‘incredibly rare phenomenon,’ says CBC science specialist. Some residents of British Columbia’s …
Read More »I’d become complacent around wildlife working in parks — until a predator stole my supper
Chad Dupuis had been living and working in the northern Alberta forest for several years and had numerous wildlife encounters. His lost dinner was a reminder that the parks are the animals’ home and we’re encroaching on it. It was a good reminder that inside the forest, we’re the visitors …
Read More »James Webb telescope captures luminous images of 19 spiral galaxies
A batch of newly released images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope show in remarkable detail 19 spiral galaxies residing relatively near our Milky Way, offering new clues on star formation as well as galactic structure and evolution. Astronomer says ‘stunning’ photos reveal more about star formation. A batch …
Read More »AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio urges Canada to build $1B public supercomputer
The man who’s known as the godfather of artificial intelligence says he’s pitched governments on the idea in order to keep up with — and keep tabs on — private tech giants. Government needs ‘that muscle’ to keep up with tech companies, Bengio says. Yoshua Bengio has been thinking for …
Read More »Alberta’s oilsands pump out more pollutants than industry reports, scientists find
Alberta’s oilsands operations produce far more potentially harmful air pollutants than officially recorded — putting the daily output on par with those from gridlocked megacities like Los Angeles, new research suggests. Data collected by air finds levels of harmful pollutants can be more than 60 times higher than estimated. Alberta’s …
Read More »A new gold rush? The search for the natural hydrogen motherlode is coming to Canada
An Alberta company plans to begin searching for natural hydrogen in northern Ontario this summer in hopes of finding enough of the gas — highly valued as a clean fuel source — to produce and market it. An Alberta company searching for deposits of the gas is set to drill …
Read More »AI is increasingly being used to deal with climate change, but it has its own emissions problem
Artificial intelligence is assisting in climate adaptation and mitigation, but it has its own emissions problem. And it is one that will only grow as AI is used for more and more applications. But there are ways to reduce those emissions. Transitioning to renewable energy from fossil fuels will help …
Read More »What Canada can learn from Norway, the EV capital of the world
Norway is considered the world leader in electric vehicles, with roughly one-quarter of all cars on the road now electric. How did the country get here? And what can Canada learn from its experience? The nordic country aims to phase out gas vehicle sales by next year, and observers say …
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