news 2023

Waterloo researcher presents at the 16th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Waterloo Climate Institute Diverse knowledge and expertise are critical in understanding the intersections between health and climate change. Indigenous and local knowledge are fundamental in tackling this area of research and supporting the co-production of knowledge, bringing generations of wisdom, experience and practices to the discussion.

The effects of marine heatwaves caused by climate change on corals and biodiversity are worse than previously thought, according to new University of Victoria research published on Friday that also provides important clues about broader coral diversity and marine ecosystem health as the world grapples with record ocean temperatures.

Professor David Simakov is developing innovative technologies to solve complex environmental challenges By Nicola Kelly Faculty of Engineering David Simakov, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is actively engaged in two bold interdisciplinary collaborations with Canadian and international partners to advance UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Science, Health & Technology Lou Corpuz-Bosshart Study also shows that larger, intact watersheds reduce flood risk more effectively Loss of forest cover is associated with more frequent extreme flooding, as well as more frequent floods of any size, according to new UBC research. While it's widely thought that loss of forest cover is strongly linked to increased flooding, most studies have suggested that the impact is limited to smaller floods.

Researchers discover the rise in health concerns due to heat waves in Canada The planet experienced the hottest day on record earlier this month and climate projections estimate the intensity of heat waves and poor air quality will increase and continue to cause severe impacts. Researchers from the University of Waterloo and Toronto Metropolitan University have refined and expanded a method of data collection to assess their health impacts.

Injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) into ocean basalt has almost no risk of triggering any seismic activity such as earthquakes or fault slip according to new research from Solid Carbon , a promising climate change mitigation project for reducing the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. Advanced computer modelling by scientists with the Solid Carbon team shows injecting CO2 under the Cascadia Basin has less than 1 percent chance of causing fault slip.

A study has found that wild animal and plant species are being secretly bought and sold online, mainly for use in recreational drugs. An Australian research team investigating the trade in wild animals and plants on the dark web scanned about 2 million ads over five years and found nearly 3,500 were for wildlife.

A tornado that sliced through a rural area south of Didsbury, AB on July 1 is among the most powerful ever recorded in Canada. It has been rated at EF4 by Western's Northern Tornadoes Project , in collaboration with the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Prairie and Arctic Storm Prediction Centre.

Stronger winds shift water from the Labrador Current eastward, with dire consequences for marine ecosystems Changes to the flow of the Labrador Current along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador to Nova Scotia are leading to sudden warmings or drops in the oxygen levels of the waters in several regions including the St. Lawrence Gulf and Estuary.

Science, Health & Technology Alex Walls Specially designed gardens could reduce the amount of a toxic chemical associated with tires entering our waterways by more than 90 per cent, new research shows. Tired toxins The chemical 6PPD-quinone can form when car tires interact with the atmosphere. It enters rivers and streams when rain runs off roads into waterways.

McGill researchers are leading an international team whose goal is to create a framework to help governments in the U.S. and around the world assess and prioritize remediation strategies for orphaned oil and gas wells. These inactive wells represent environmental risks since they have the potential to contaminate water supplies, degrade ecosystems, and emit methane and other air pollutants that are harmful to human health.

Everyone has 24 hours per day. Across the global population of 8 billion people this adds up to approximately 190 billion human hours per day. How those hours are spent determines the impacts we have on our surroundings as well as how we experience life. To find out how people around the world use their time, a research team led by McGill University has gathered and analyzed information about both economic and non-economic activities in order to estimate, for the first time, what a day in the life of the world looks like.

May 31, 2023 New paper offers urban governance actors guidance to prioritize citizens that are most vulnerable to climate change  Municipal climate action plans often identify equity and justice as goals, but engagement with these concepts is mostly rhetorical. A new study from the University of Waterloo details how planners can bridge the gap and challenge the current state of climate change and social inequity.

Microplastic pollution is altering the gut microbiomes of wild seabirds, and humans should be wary too Scientists have been worried about the potential harms of microplastics for years. These small plastic particles less than 5 mm in length have been found everywhere because of plastic pollution - from the Earth's deep oceans to remote regions in Antarctica, and even the seafood we eat.

May 17, 2023 First of its kind study quantifies mental and physical health value of urban parks A new framework developed by University of Waterloo researchers demonstrates the significant economic health savings and benefits from urban park investments. In the first case study of its kind in Canada, researchers looked at Peterborough's new Quaker Foods City Square park, which cost taxpayers $6.4 million, and have estimated the economic value of physical and mental health benefits that could come from it at more than $4 million per year.

Waterloo professor is part of an emerging field that calls for establishing a governance framework for ocean-based climate interventions Faculty of Environment From its current capacity as a carbon sink to its potential as a site for generating renewable energy, and managing solar radiation, the ocean is increasingly at the forefront of discussions around climate mitigation strategies. However, efforts to develop ocean-based climate interventions expose the ocean to various threats that harm biodiversity, pollute, and change its very chemistry.

People tend to underestimate the degree of safety behaviour needed in moderately dangerous conditions Although some people might expect very dangerous jobs to be associated with the highest incidence of workplace accidents, a new study finds that accidents are actually most likely to occur within moderately dangerous work environments.

Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers from McGill University and University of British Columbia found that the planet's biomass - the material that makes up all living organisms - is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum. The researchers spent five years compiling and analyzing data about the size and biomass of every type of living organism on the planet-from tiny one-celled organisms like soil archaea and bacteria to large organisms like blue whales and sequoia trees.

A new study by researchers at the University of Toronto finds that climate change is causing a commercially significant marine crab to lose its sense of smell, which could partially explain why their populations are thinning.

An international team of collaborators - including researchers from the University of Toronto and Huazhong University of Science and Technology - has created a catalyst that efficiently transforms carbon monoxide derived from captured carbon into acetic acid. By unlocking a new path to manufacture this key industrial chemical, which has a global market size of more than US$10 billion per year, the innovation could spur new investments into carbon capture and storage.