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 …
ships are using Canada's ocean coast as dumping grounds, which has resulted in the death of 300,000 birds per year. Activists allege that low fines on dumping bilge (a mixture of water, oil and other engine fluids) in Canadian ports has prompted ships to increasingly deposit such waste off the …
ANTI-MCDONALD'S DAY . October 16, 2002 October 16, 2002 is UN World Food Day. It is also the 18th annual worldwide Anti-McDonald's Day. A day of protest against the promotion of junk food, the unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, environment damage and the global domination of …
controversy about the viability of using carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery was once again in the forefront recently with the starting of a Canadian project's new phase in which around 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be injected into a reservoir located in Rejina for recovering oil. With …
Canada seems to have settled scores with the us by restricting imports of mop top virus-infected American potatoes. In 2000-2001, the us had imposed a ban on potatoes from Canada's Prince Edward Island after some were found to have potato warts. The Canadian officials are taking a series of measures …
In a strange twist to the raging lumber dispute between the us and Canada, both nations have interpreted a recent World Trade Organisation (wto) ruling on the issue as a vindication of their respective stands. While the us contends that it has scored a "technical point', Canada says the body …
A novel method has been devised to shame politicians in Canada, who have not taken action to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Global non-governmental organisation (ngo) Greenpeace is naming excessively smoggy days after such leaders. The christening system started with Smog Day Augustine, named after parliament member Jean …
In a major blow to the us biotech industry, the European parliament recently approved one of the world’s most stringent regulations on labelling of genetically modified organisms (gmo). The parliament has also decided to retain the ongoing moratorium on the import of numerous gm products till the regulation comes into …
Parks, schools and hospitals in Quebec would soon become pesticide-free. Thanks to the pressure mounted by the public and environmental groups, this Canadian province will ban the use of most non-farm pesticides by 2005. The ban on the use of 30 highly noxious pesticides on public land will come into …
Mounds of trash infested with flies have become a common sight on the streets of Toronto recently, thanks to a strike by the city's garbage collectors. Nearly 7,000 workers walked off the job, demanding reasonable deals on wages, job security and benefits from the local politicians. The strike gave rise …
She put the rights of the tribe she was studying above her research. In 1997, ethnobotanist Kelly Bannister found that Skeetchestn, a tribe near British Columbia in Western Canada, wanted some more of her time to record their traditional knowledge. This was reason enough for her to reject the offer …
In one fell swoop the us has dealt a crippling blow to the Canadian lumber industry, slapping a 27 per cent duty on softwood timber imports from the country. The us salvo is the latest move in a protracted dispute spanning almost 20 years. Its significance for Canada can be …
river pollution has threatened beluga whale populations and made fish eating a health risk in Montreal. St Lawrence river is reeling under excessive industrial pollution. Montreal's Technoparc Saint-Laurent, an industrial house, near Dorval Airport site is discharging toxic chemicals into the river. The chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in concentrations …
We need to give the devil his due. Finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, has drawn flak from almost all sides for his nightmare budget 2002. But there was one item, which missed most eyes, which said that the budget would provide deduction for afforestation projects on degraded non-forest land. The crucial …
canadian scientists have set up a sophisticated computing lab that will help speed up research into diseases like cancer and diabetes. The lab allows researchers to view three-dimensional models of the smallest parts of the human biological makeup. The results are so realistic that one cannot resist reaching out to …
In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that the government has the right to ban the commercial killing of newborn harp and hooded seal pups, called bluebacks, during Canada's yearly hunt. Earlier the government's authority to prohibit the sale of blueback skin under the Fisheries Act's …
considering that there are 364 endangered species in the country, Canadian conservationists recently urged prime minister Jean Chretien to ensure that a strengthened version of the Species at Risk Act is passed soon. Currently, Canada has no federal law to protect these species, although the government has been promising a …
freshwater fish in Virginia contain the highest worldwide reported levels of penta bromo diphenyl ether (pbde), a chemical that is commonly added to polyurethane cushions for slowing down fires. The discovery, made by researchers from the us-based Virginia Institute of Marine Science (vims), has raised concerns because pbde is structurally …
oceanographer William P Dillon likes to surprise visitors to his lab by taking ordinary-looking ice balls and setting them on fire. "They're easy to light. You just put a match to them and they will go,' says Dillon, a researcher with the us Geological Survey (usgs) in Woods Hole, Massachusettes. …
the Russian mafia has been accused of practising illegal fishing in the western Bering Sea. In an investigative study by Trade record analysis of flora and fauna in commerce (traffic), it is claimed that fish poaching amounting to us $ 4 billion annually is being carried out by organised crime …
