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Environment - Earth Sciences - 23.11.2021

Evidence of a warming planet high in the Earth’s atmosphere
An international team of scientists has provided further evidence of climate change by measuring the expansion of the troposphere - the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere - which is being driven by rising temperatures. The researchers tracked the altitude of the upper limit of the troposphere, called the tropopause, from 1980 to 2020.

Environment - 12.11.2021

DNA analysis confirms 2,000-year-old sustainable fishing practices of Tsleil-Waututh Nation
Ancient Indigenous fishing practices can be used to inform sustainable management and conservation today, according to a new study from Simon Fraser University. Working with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and using new palaeogenetic analytical techniques developed in SFU Archaeology's ancient DNA lab, directed by professor Dongya Yang, the results of a new collaborative study featured in Scientific Reports provides strong evidence that prior to European colonization, Coast Salish people were managing chum salmon by selectively harvesting males.

Life Sciences - Environment - 10.11.2021

The global ocean out of balance
Surprising as it sounds, all life forms in the ocean, from small krill to large tuna, seem to obey a simple mathematical law that links an organism's abundance to its body size. For example, although small krill are individually only one billionth of the weight of a large tuna, they also tend to be a billion times more numerous throughout the oceans.

Environment - Health - 10.11.2021

Domestic cats drive spread of Toxoplasma parasite to wildlife
Science, Health & Technology Lou Corpuz-Bosshart New UBC research suggests free-roaming cats are likely to blame in the spread of the potentially deadly Toxoplasma gondii parasite to wildlife in densely populated urban areas. The study-the first to analyze so many wildlife species over a global scale-also highlights how healthy ecosystems can protect against these types of pathogens.

Environment - 08.11.2021

Diet restricted size of hunter-gatherer societies
Short growing seasons limited the possible size of hunter-gatherer societies by forcing people to rely on meat, according to a recent study by a team of international researchers, including McGill University professor Eric Galbraith. After looking at population size for the roughly 300 hunter-gatherer societies which existed until quite recently, the researchers found that many of these groups were much smaller than might have been expected from the local ecosystem productivity.

Environment - Innovation - 08.11.2021

Project to study climate effects on electric vehicle energy use
A new joint project between Western University's Faculty of Engineering and Fanshawe College's Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) , in collaboration with London Hydro, is investigating household energy consumption for electric vehicles (EVs) and how weather factors affect it. EVs charged in Ontario produce, on average, only three per cent of the emissions of a similar gas-fueled car.

Environment - Campus - 28.10.2021

Reducing vessel activity key to southern resident killer whale survival
Reducing ship speed and noise levels would increase the probability that endangered West Coast southern resident killer whales will spend more time hunting for Chinook salmon, a new Simon Fraser University study has found. The research, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin , provides insights to guide conservation efforts and protect the estimated 73 remaining whales in the population.

Life Sciences - Environment - 28.10.2021

Heatwaves like ’the Blob’ could decrease role of ocean as carbon sink
Science, Health & Technology Alex Walls Researchers have found the two-year heatwave known as 'the Blob' may have temporarily dampened the Pacific's 'biological pump,' which shuttles carbon from the surface ocean to the deep sea where it can be stored for millennia. Canadian and European researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, conducted a large-scale study of the impact of one of the largest marine heatwaves on record - colloquially known as the Blob - on Pacific Ocean microorganisms.

Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 26.10.2021

Advancing agriculture threatens the livelihoods of forest-dependent people
Satellite images reveal where forest-dependent people live inside the forests of the South American Gran Chaco, and how deforestation for cattle ranching leads to an erosion of their resource base. (Background photo: Google Earth TM / Inset photo: I. Gasparri). Forest-dependent people living across the Gran Chaco have been put on the map for the first time.

Environment - 21.10.2021

University of Toronto study provides insight into how we sense threats in our environment
Researchers at the University of Toronto have shown that our ability to quickly assess threats in our environment comes from our perception of discrete linear features in a scene rather than details or objects within it. The collaborators suggest that this response is an evolutionary trait that may have evolved in humans and other species because it helped identify potential danger quickly - that is, individuals with this visual skill were more likely to avoid danger and hence pass the trait on to their offspring.

Environment - 21.10.2021

Salmon decline impacted by ’squeeze’ of combined river and sea stressors
Study traces 40 years of change on Vancouver Island river-to-sea salmon and trout pathway Researchers from Simon Fraser University's Salmon Watershed Lab have found that recent declines of Pacific salmon and trout are associated with 40 years of changes in their combined marine and freshwater ecosystems.

Environment - Chemistry - 20.10.2021

’Forever chemicals’ found in French fertilizer made from sewage
UdeM environmental chemist Sébastien Sauvé and his team analyzed agricultural soil samples in France. Their alarming findings appear today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. A waterproof coat keeps you dry when it rains, but did you know it can also contaminate the environment? That's because the fabric contains perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - so-called "forever chemicals" that take forever to decompose.

Environment - 19.10.2021

Microplastics in belugas worked their way up food chain, SFU researchers find
Microplastics are being found in even the most remote waters, say Simon Fraser researchers who studied how the particles ended up in the stomachs of beluga whales through prey.'? A new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment looked at five species of arctic fish known to be eaten by beluga whales.

Environment - Life Sciences - 14.10.2021

Expert Q&A: Sea otters boost genetic diversity of eelgrass meadows
A unique interaction between sea otters and the flowing plant known as eelgrass has researchers looking closer at the co-evolution of the two species. In a paper published today in the journal Science , University of Victoria geography PhD graduate, Erin Foster, explains how the digging activities of sea otters disturbs eelgrass beds, which in turn leads to greater genetic plant diversity.

Environment - Campus - 07.10.2021

How mussels make a powerful underwater glue
The mussels' beards (which cooks remove before preparing them) are made up of byssal threads and are used to help keep the mussels tethered in place. At the end of each thread is a disc-shaped plaque that acts as an underwater glue. The unusual qualities of the glue and the byssal threads have interested people since ancient times, when the threads of certain species were woven into luxurious berets, purses, gloves, and stockings.

Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 21.09.2021

Canada’s nitrogen footprint shows regional variation
New accounting of national nitrogen emissions shows impacts of provincial wastewater treatment, agriculture, and use of fossil fuels Reactive nitrogen emissions contribute to greenhouse gases, as well as air and water pollution. For the first time, researchers from McGill University have calculated Canada's nitrogen footprint (akin to a carbon footprint) - at both national and provincial levels.

Environment - Social Sciences - 17.09.2021

Coral reefs are 50% less able to provide food, jobs, and climate protection than in 1950s, putting millions at risk
The capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services relied on by millions of people worldwide has declined by half since the 1950s, according to a new University of British Columbia-led study. The study offers the first comprehensive look at what climate change, overfishing, and habitat destruction of coral reefs mean for their ecosystem services, or the ability of the reef to provide essential benefits and services to humans, including food, livelihoods, and protection from storms.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 08.09.2021

Gigatons of carbon dioxide able to be stored in ocean basalt
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Environment - Life Sciences - 07.09.2021

Freshwater ecosystems at risk due to glyphosate use
One of the few species that was found to be resistant to severe glyphosate contamination was Scapholeberis mucronata, a freshwater zooplankter commonly found in Québec and elsewhere in North America. CREDIT: Marie-Pier Hébert A series of recent research papers from a McGill-led team has found that the herbicide glyphosate-commonly sold under the label Roundup-can alter the structure of natural freshwater bacterial and zooplankton communities.

Life Sciences - Environment - 30.08.2021

Tracking genetically modified animals
McGill researchers have discovered a new way to track genetically modified animals using the artificial transgenes they leave behind in the environment. The discovery provides a powerful new tool to locate and manage genetically modified animals that have escaped or been released into the wild.