Science matters

Cumulative impacts

Mar 202013

We need big-picture thinking to protect nature.

by David Suzuki

Few places on Earth have been untouched by humans, according to a study in the journal Science. Satellite images taken from hundreds of kilometres above the planet reveal a world that we have irrevocably changed within a remarkably short time.

Although industrial projects like the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline or the recently defeated mega-quarry in Ontario typically grab the headlines and bring out public opposition, it’s often the combined impacts of a range of human activities on the same land base that threaten to drive nature beyond critical tipping points. Once those are passed, rapid ecological changes such as species extinction can occur.

Go play outdoors

Mar 132013

Science matters

Healthy kids need time in nature.

by David Suzuki

Ontario’s Healthy Kids Panel recently proposed a strategy to help kids get onto a path to health. The problem is that the path doesn’t lead them into nature. Though the report quotes parents’ comments and research showing kids spend dramatically less time outside than ever, it doesn’t encourage time in nature.

Uruguay’s “poor” president is a unique leader

Mar 062013

Science matters

Jose Mujuica

by David Suzuki

When bright young idealists share their environmental concerns with me, I encourage them to get involved in politics. That’s where decisions have to be made about the severe ecological problems we face.

Have you noticed, though, how often idealism gives way to a sense of entitlement to all the perks that come with political office? It’s amazing how being elected to serve the people is often turned on its head: we’re expected to support elected leaders without protest or question. And what happens to many who leave government? Lucrative board memberships and business deals.

Some politicians take a different road, though.

Sonar and whales are a deadly mix

Feb 272013

Science matters

US Navy seeks permission to increase sonar tests in whale breeding grounds.

by David Suzuki

Whales face numerous threats, many from garbage and toxins dumped into the oceans. Human-caused noise pollution also harms whales, leading to death, stranding, temporary and permanent hearing loss and hemorrhaging around the brain, ears and other tissues from decompression sickness when whales are startled by sound and surface too quickly.

Sonar used in naval training is a major cause of these debilitating and often deadly injuries to whales and other aquatic animals. With their sensitive hearing, marine mammals are particularly vulnerable. Sonar disrupts their ability to communicate, migrate, breathe, nurse, breed, feed, find shelter and, ultimately, survive.

Paving local-grown paradise

Feb 202013

Science matters

Urban sprawl threatens crucial agricultural land.

by David Suzuki

Despite its huge area, Canada has relatively little dependable farmland. After all, a lot of our country is rock, or buried under ice and snow. Fertile soil and a friendly climate are hard to find.

So it might seem like good news that on a clear day you can see about half the best agricultural land in Canada from the top of Toronto’s CN Tower. To feed our growing urban populations and sustain local food security, it’s critical to have productive land close to where people live.

Putting the environment on the agenda

Feb 142013

Science matters

Government must heed environment commissioner’s warnings.

by David Suzuki

When the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in 2010, killing 11 people and spewing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it cost more than $40 billion to mop up the mess. In Canada, an oil company would only be liable for only $30 million, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the rest.

Science isn’t just for scientists

Feb 062013

Science matters

Citizen scientists advance our world knowledge.

by David Suzuki

A 14-year-old boy in Donetsk, Ukraine, recently made a fascinating discovery halfway around the world and 894 metres under the sea. Kirill Dudko was watching Neptune Canada’s live-stream footage of the ocean floor near Vancouver Island on his computer when he saw a creature with a “nose and moustache” eat a hagfish. It seemed unusual, so he contacted Neptune scientists, who checked the footage and identified an elephant seal.

The baffling response to Arctic climate change

Jan 312013

Science matters

Rush to drill in Arctic flouts realization of climate change's catastrophic consequences.

by David Suzuki

The Arctic may seem like a distant place, just as the most extreme consequences of our wasteful use of fossil fuels may appear to be in some distant future. Both are closer than most of us realize.

The Arctic is a focal point for some of the most profound impacts of climate change. One of the world’s top ice experts, Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, calls the situation a “global disaster,” suggesting ice is disappearing faster than predicted and could be gone within as few as four years.

Outdoor Skating Season shortens noticeably

Jan 232013

Science matters

A game in the US 2009 pond hockey championships.

With no outdoor rinks for beginners, hockey could become an endangered sport.

by David Suzuki

One benefit of the National Hockey League strike: it gave people time to play outside on real ice!

Let’s put the environment into the Charter

Jan 162013

Science matters

Other nations recognize Nature has rights; Canada can too.

By David Suzuki

Public health worker Beatriz Mendoza was living near the Riachuelo River in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when she started losing feeling in her fingers and toes. Her neighbours were also experiencing health issues – including skin rashes, cancers and birth defects – clearly linked to pollution in the heavily industrialized area. The Matanza-Riachuelo basin is one of the most contaminated waterways in Latin America.

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