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 …
Although Canada's west coast is known for disputes over the Pacific salmon, wild salmon in the north Atlantic Ocean and farm-raised salmon have been making headlines. The salmon population in the North Atlantic dropped to 114,000 mature fish in 1998, its lowest point ever. Meanwhile, salmon farmers in the Canadian …
the key to all life on this planet is water. Without it, the Earth would have been just another planet, a tiny featureless speck in the Universe. Made of hydrogen and oxygen, water is another of nature's fantastic chance creations. Billions of years ago, it offered an excellent solvent and …
Many doctors have been quite concerned about the increasing number of caesarean babies being born in hospitals. And many suspect that a large number of them are done merely for the convenience of the obstetricians. Now, a new finding by Canadian researchers Patricia Bosk and El-Khodor of McGill University in …
An epidemic of lung cancer caused by asbestos will sweep Europe, killing a quarter of a million men over the next 35 years, UK-based doctors have warned. "The figures are horrifying,' says Julian Peto of the Institute of Cancer Research in London. The cancer, which used to be extremely rare, …
A gene that controls drought tolerance in plants has been identified. Scientists say that they may soon produce genetically engineered plants capable of surviving droughts. The gene was identified by scientists working at the University of Toronto, Canada. The gene controls a plant hormone that triggers closure of pores on …
A verstile digital scarecrow promises to put a virtual cat among the pigeons. Birds soon get used to conventional scarecrows, and though simulated gunshots are effective, they are too loud. Now Bramley and Wellesley, a company based in Gloucester, UK, and Phoenix Agritech of Canada are all set to patent …
... but is it sustainable? The Canadian government has once again set its usual quota for killing seals in 1999 after rejecting evidence suggesting that the country's annual harp seal cull is unsustainable. In 1999, like in the past two years, Canadian seal hunters will be allowed to kill as …
toxic substances have been found in the air downwind from Toronto, Canada's capital. These were most likely released by the dumping of polyvinyl chloride ( pvc ), say environmental organisations Greenpeace, Toronto Environmental Alliance and Jack Jayton, chairperson of Toronto's Environmental Task Force. They are urging municipalities across Canada to …
IT is tough, non-toxic and green. It is Biosteel. By borrowing a little from genetic as well as plain engineering, researchers in Quebec, Canada, have developed this incredibly light fabric that is both biodegradable and strong enough to stop bullets. If all goes as planned, biosteel - made by lacing …
THE widespread effects of pollution can be gauged from the fact that the remotest and the most uninhabitable regions on earth are facing the brunt of pollution caused by pesticides and industrial chemicals. Researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, found that atmospheric processes are transporting and dumping chemicals …
UP TO half of Inuit women in the Canadian Arctic are consuming toxic pollutants at levels that grossly exceed all international safety limitations. The seals, whales and fish they eat are contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals and PCBS - pollutants released almost half-a-world away by the developed, industrialised nations. A …
CANADIAN authorities have warned consumers not to use mustard oil, which they fear may be contaminated. The warning was issued after dropsy deaths were reported in India. No cases of the illness have been reported in Canada. But authorities fear that mustard oil may contain Argemone that releases toxic substances, …
HOW do you kill cancer? It is a question that researchers the world over have been trying to answer. They have tried everything: conventional chemotherapy to blocking blood flow to cancerous tissues. Nothing, however, deterred the dreaded disease. So the research teams went back to their laboratories and tried again, …
THE Canadian government has admitted that it cannot stop transboundary pollu-tion on its own, but at least it can set an example for the biggest polluters. The government officials have agreed to a plan to reduce the amount of toxic mer-cury pumped out of the region's incin-erators and industries. Studies …
WHAT do you do with chemicals that poison the Earth, travel fast, and do not disintegrate easily? Known as Persistent Organic Pollutants or POPS, these are toxic organic compounds that have many agricultural and industrial applications. But also pose a serious threat to all life as well as the environment …
Hundreds, perhaps, even thousands of migratory birds are dying in the eastern US and Canada due to salmonella bacteria, the US National Wildlife Health Center (nwhc) announced recently. The organisation has found the bacteria in dead birds form over American 10 states since January this year and is in the …
A Toronto-based group will launch a lawsuit on behalf of as many as 17 million Canadians who were not told about the mercury in their dental fillings. The suit seeks damages from the health ministry and dental amalgam makers. Scientists are still unsure whether mercury from dental fillings actually pose …
eighteen environmentalists have been arrested in Vancouver, Canada, for opposing the logging of some of the remaining pristine rainforest valleys in the Great Bear Rainforests. The uk is playing a major role in forest destruction as it continues to import timber and pulp from British Columbia's ancient temperate rainforests to …
farmed Atlantic salmon have become the latest problem for the wavering populations of Pacific salmon on Canada's Pacific coast. Most fish raised in the rapidly growing coastal salmon farming industry of British Columbia are strains of Atlantic salmon as they grow faster and tolerate crowding much better than the several …
following recent reports of emission of dioxins from iron and steel plants in Europe, federal environmental agencies in usa and Canada are planning to launch a bilateral effort to probe dioxin emissions from such plants. Dioxins are carcinogens that are emitted when certain highly-chlorinated compounds are burned. Some recent European …
