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The wildfire season of 2023 was the most destructive ever recorded in Canada and a new study suggests the impact was unprecedented. It found that four of the year's wildfires in mine-impacted areas around Yellowknife, Northwest Territories potentially contributed up to half of the arsenic that wildfires emit globally each year.

Study examined effect of rising temperatures on California's crop  Strawberries could be fewer and more expensive because of higher temperatures caused by climate change, according to research from the University of Waterloo. Using a new method of analysis, the researchers found that a rise in temperature of 3 degrees Fahrenheit could reduce strawberry yields by up to 40 per cent.

News media tour W.A. Ranches before 'largest outdoor rodeo' to learn more about ongoing research projects A long-standing collaboration between the Calgary Stampede and UCalgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) aims to improve animal welfare and inform policies that create a safer environment for both animals and people at the well-known outdoor rodeo.

A McGill-led research team has developed the first real-time, on-site technology capable of detecting and deciphering nanoplastics from all'other particles in water, a capacity akin to being able to find a needle in a haystack within milliseconds. Microplastic pieces are between 1 micrometre and 5 millimetres, roughly equivalent to a grain of rice.

Understanding how gold forms is crucial for knowing where to find it and how to extract it sustainably. McGill researchers have answered a long-standing question in geology that could lead to new ore discoveries. Researchers traveled to the remote Brucejack gold deposit in northwestern British Columbia to study and collect ancient ore-bearing rocks.

As the climate warms, many species are on the move, raising new challenges for policy-makers around the world. Shifts in the ranges of mosquitoes and disease-bearing ticks and bats are introducing illnesses such as malaria and Lyme disease into regions where health-care systems are unprepared. Movements of commercially important fish from one jurisdiction to another are shifting job opportunities and causing trade disputes.

Women are more likely than men to avoid jogging in the woods due to fear of attack or spotty cell service, according to a new study published by researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Many studies have shown the health benefits of running, for both physical and psychological wellbeing. The researchers hope that, by identifying the features that are attractive to runners, they can help policymakers create environments that will promote an active and healthy lifestyle.

Scientists at McGill University are uncovering revolutionary solutions for electric vehicle batteries, which could cut manufacturing costs by 20%. The global shift towards electric vehicles is gaining momentum, but extracting battery materials has major environmental consequences and high costs. Recently, two groundbreaking studies by scientists at McGill University have paved the way for the development of more economical and environmentally-friendly lithium-ion batteries - used in the manufacture of electric vehicles.

With Ontario's eight species of turtles considered at risk, a new nest designed by researchers has the potential to significantly bolster their struggling populations. The habitat is the first designed for turtles in rock barren landscapes, such as the research site around Georgian Bay. It uses moss and lichen.

Australia lacks fearsome large carnivores like lions and wolves, and the relative lack of fear that marsupials like kangaroos and wallabies show to dogs (and other introduced carnivores) has been attributed to a lack of evolutionary experience with large mammalian predators.

Satellite data provides first evidence of ocean water intrusion beneath Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier  For the first time, there is visible evidence showing that warm seawater is pumping underneath Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier-ominously nicknamed the Doomsday Glacier. An international team of scientists-including a researcher from the University of Waterloo-observed it using satellite imagery and warns that it could accelerate catastrophic sea level rise in 10 to 20 years.

New study from Waterloo researchers creating climate change-proof buildings with deep learning-powered inspections    University of Waterloo researchers have developed a new method that can lead to significant energy savings in buildings. The team identified 28 major heat loss regions in a multi-unit residential building with the most severe ones being at wall intersections and around windows.

In an age of abundance and variety in food options, are Canadians eating better than they were half a century ago' According to a recent paper by researchers at McGill University and the International Food Policy Research Institute, those relying on Canada's food supply for their dietary needs not only face deficiencies in healthier alternatives, but they also contribute to the disproportionate levels of environmental degradation caused by Canadian agricultural and food distribution policies.

The UdeM Chair in Landscape and Environment publishes a practical guide to landscape planning, the result of an action-research project conducted with the City of Saint-Constant and the Roussillon RCM. The Chaire en paysage et environnement de l'Université de Montréal (CPEUM) announces the publication of a brand new guide for elected officials and municipal professionals, as well as anyone interested in the future of landscapes and the quality of living environments.

When Kevin Ryan and the other hardworking volunteers at Mossom Creek Hatchery in Port Moody, B.C. release young coho smolts into the ocean, they're never quite certain how many will return as adults. Mossom releases between 5,000 and 10,000 coho smolts each year, and is one of the few hatcheries to release coho directly into the ocean, rather than into a river.

Wind power is an affordable and renewable energy source. Yet decision-makers are reluctant to invest in this sector because they generally believe that wind farms require more land than fossil fuel power plants. A McGill University study assessing the extent of land occupied by nearly 320 wind farms in the USA - the largest study of its kind - paints a very different picture.

Environment As the world commemorates Earth Day 2024, a Waterloo researcher shares how we can unlock more Canadian restoration solutions with community and academic collaboration With the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration well underway, one message is taking center stage - we need to restore biodiversity on our planet.

Despite earlier springs in North America, migratory birds are nesting 2 to 4 weeks later than 25 years ago at the Université Laval teaching and research forest . Thanks to earlier springs, bird spring migrations have been occurring earlier and earlier in North America over the past few decades. Do these disruptions to the normal course of migration mean that birds are nesting earlier? Not necessarily, at least not for the 36 migratory species studied at Forêt Montmorency by a research team from Université Laval and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Environment Please turn off the lights when exiting the room, society thanks you Living in society means we are under the influence of others. This power can impact our behaviors and actions, which can result in both positive and negative results. For Mohamed Yousuf, the power of influence formed an integral part of his graduate studies research.

What maintains stability within an ecosystem and prevents a single best competitor from displacing other species from a community? Does ecosystem stability depend upon the presence of a wide variety of species, as early ecologists believed, or does diversity do the exact opposite, and lead to instability, as modern theory predicts? Resolving a long-standing debate among ecologists A new study from McGill University and the Max Planck Institute and published recently in Science suggests an answer to this question that has stood unanswered for half a century among ecologists.