Air quality is a major challenge globally and is the single greatest environmental risk to human health. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas that exceed the World Health Organization guideline for healthy air. In North America, Canada and the United States of America have …
Slowly but surely, the virus commonly known as swine flu continued to spread across the globe Friday, as the number of confirmed cases rose from 257 to 331, the World Health Organization in Geneva reported. In Europe, authorities voiced fears that the virus was now being transferred within their own …
Chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) may contribute to premature mortality, but few studies to date have addressed this topic. This study assessed the association between TRAP and mortality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In recent decades, the Arctic has undergone major environmental, socio-economic and political changes. The rapid loss of Arctic ice is having negative consequences on northern communities and lifestyles, on iconic species such as the polar bear, and is altering the ecology of the Arctic ocean and the permafrost lands. With …
Underscoring the significance of individual measures that served as the first line of defence against any influenza virus, speakers at a discussion on swine flu said that though the virus seemed to be getting less virulent with time, there was a dire need to create awareness about it and take …
There is no immediate threat of the outbreak of 'swine flu' in Pakistan. However, all precautionary measures have been taken, in case of an emergency. This was stated by Dr Rasheed Juma, Director-General, Health, while briefing media persons here on Wednesday. NIH Executive Director Dr Barjees Tahir, Avian Influenza expert …
It's simple to mop carbon dioxide out of the air, but it could cost a lot of money. In the second of three features on the carbon challenge, Nicola Jones talks with the scientists pursuing this strategy.
The Canadian government plans new regulations that will effectively phase out traditional coal-fired power stations, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said in an interview published on Wednesday. He told the Globe and Mail newspaper that new coal plants would have to include technology to capture greenhouse gas emissions and inject them …
Arctic nations agreed on Wednesday to crack down on soot that is darkening ice around the North Pole and hastening a thaw that they also blamed on global warming. The eight-member Arctic Council, ending a two-day meeting in Norway, also snubbed requests by China, Italy, South Korea and the European …
New swine flu infections were found around the world on Tuesday and the specter of a pandemic hit the travel industry as governments warned people to stay away from Mexico where 149 people have died. The number of infections in the United States rose to 65 [nN28335920], Canada has 13, …
The World Health Organisation raised its pandemic alert level over the deadly swine flu virus to phase 4 on Monday, indicating the infection could spread between humans to cause "community-level outbreaks". Experts held four hours of emergency talks on whether to raise the alert level from phase 3 due to …
The United States hosts a meeting of major economies on Monday and Tuesday in Washington to relaunch a process it hopes will help lead to an international pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Below are the players and possible outcomes from the event: PLAYERS The major economies include: Australia, Brazil, …
Responding to what some health officials feared could be the leading edge of a global pandemic emerging from Mexico, American health officials declared a public health emergency on Sunday as 20 cases of swine flu were confirmed in this country, including eight in New York City. Other nations imposed travel …
European ambassadors approved a European Union plan to ban imports of furs and other products from culled seals on Friday, moving the 27-nation bloc one step closer to a trade clash with Norway and Canada. Both seal-hunting nations have warned the EU in recent weeks that they could challenge the …
California's new low-carbon fuel rules may be a violation of NAFTA and World Trade Organization provisions because they would unfairly limit exports of crude from Canada's oil sands to the state, a prominent Canadian trade lawyer said on Friday. California adopted a first-ever rule on Thursday requiring refineries, producers and …
The United States hopes to take the reins of international efforts to battle global warming next week with a meeting of major economies aimed at facilitating a UN pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama, a Democrat who took office in January, called the meeting last month to …
Vaporising household waste to create clean energy could solve two of humanity's biggest environmental problems at once. But is "gasification" as green as it sounds?
Scientists in Canada's Arctic have discovered the fossil of a previously unknown web-footed carnivore that helps explain how seals developed from land-based mammals, a member of the team said on Wednesday. The very primitive animal, measuring around 110 cm (43 inches) from nose to tail, had a body similar to …
US efforts to curb emissions of greenhouse gases mean Canada will have to put a price on carbon and set up a national cap-and-trade system, an official panel said Thursday. Canada's Conservative government wants to fight global warming by reducing the intensity of emissions rather than capping them. But the …
Norway became on Wednesday the first Arctic state to agree limits to its northern seabed, stopping short of the North Pole in a regional territorial scramble driven partly by hopes of finding oil and gas. Norway's newly defined continental shelf covers 235,000 sq kms (90,740 sq miles), or three-quarters the …
