August 2 was Earth Overshoot Day. Unlike Earth Day or Canada Day, it’s not a time to celebrate. As the Earth Overshoot Day website explains, it marks the time when “we will have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the whole year.” That is the definition of unsustainable and means we’re using up the biological capital that should be our children’s legacy. We would require 1.7 Earths to meet our current annual demands sustainably.
Browsing: Environment
August 2 was Earth Overshoot Day. Unlike Earth Day or Canada Day, it’s not a…
Environmental organisation WWF-New Zealand, today cautiously welcomed the Ministry for Primary Industries’ new draft squid fishing plan and called for precautionary action to save the New Zealand sea lion. The ‘Squid 6T Operational Plan’, released today for consultation regulates trawling for squid around the Auckland Islands, home to the most important breeding colony of this endangered species.
Environmental organisation WWF-New Zealand, today cautiously welcomed the Ministry for Primary Industries’ new draft squid…
Humans are an astonishing anomaly. As many species teeter on extinction, our populations grow in size and complexity. From exploring space to eradicating diseases and other remarkable achievements, human curiosity has pushed the outer limits of our physical universe. Yet our ability to embrace shared values has been challenging. More than a billion people live in poverty, inequality gaps are expanding, and we face unprecedented environmental challenges that threaten our survival.
Humans are an astonishing anomaly. As many species teeter on extinction, our populations grow in…
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has long called on the Government of Canada…
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has long called on the Government of Canada…
Of all the plastic products we use and take for granted, plastic drinking straws are among the most unnecessary. Designed to be used once and discarded, their only real purpose is to keep your mouth from touching a glass or ice. It made more sense in the days when contaminated vessels were more of an issue.
Of all the plastic products we use and take for granted, plastic drinking straws are…
Pollinator pathway. Bumblebee highway. River of Flowers. Bee Line. These have all described habitat corridors created to help pollinators like bees and butterflies. We can add Butterflyways to the list.
Pollinator pathway. Bumblebee highway. River of Flowers. Bee Line. These have all described habitat corridors…
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is partnering with The Nature Trust of New Brunswick and many other great organizations to plan a large-scale, one-day marine debris cleanup event for multiple coastal and island nature preserves within Charlotte County.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is partnering with The Nature Trust of New Brunswick and…
Canada has embraced the global awaveofchange campaign following the successful launch of the Federally Incorporated Canadian Not for Profit branch of Plastic Oceans Foundation (POF Canada) alongside the premiere of A Plastic Ocean in Vancouver on 19th January. At POF Canada, we have been working to connect with all the organisations and individuals across Canada that participated in or have upcomi
Canada has embraced the global awaveofchange campaign following the successful launch of the Federally Incorporated…
I recently had a great time photographing the wrecks of Subic Bay on the west coast of Luzon, in the north of the Philippines. The bay used to be the location of a US naval base, and it has wrecks from the Spanish-American war, from WWII, and scuttled American ships and planes from the area afterwards. It’s quite a playground for the wreck-diving aficionado and underwater photographer.
Spring flooding in Canada this year upended lives, inundated city streets and swamped houses, prompting calls for sandbags, seawalls and dikes to save communities. Ontario and Quebec’s April rainfall was double the 30-year average
Spring flooding in Canada this year upended lives, inundated city streets and swamped houses, prompting…
Do you love the underwater marine life around the UK and further afield? Ever fancied…
Two hundred years ago this month, an environmental and fuel crisis inspired one of our greatest inventions — a device so simple, efficient and useful that it’s turning out to be part of the solution to today’s environmental and fuel crises.
Two hundred years ago this month, an environmental and fuel crisis inspired one of our…
In withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated monumental ignorance about climate change and the agreement itself. As Vox energy and climate writer David Roberts noted about Trump’s announcement, “It is a remarkable address, in its own way, in that virtually every passage contains something false or misleading.”
In withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated monumental ignorance about climate…
For the fifth year in a row, leading international scientists have urged the New Zealand government to remove set netting (also called gillnetting) and conventional trawling from Māui dolphin habitat, to save the world’s smallest and rarest marine dolphin from extinction.
For the fifth year in a row, leading international scientists have urged the New Zealand…
Do you remember Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak? It turns out wizards aren’t the only ones who can vanish from sight with a special coat. Marine researchers have discovered shrimp-like crustaceans called hyperiids that can hide in the open using internal nanotechnology to cloak themselves in invisibility. That’s just one among many fascinating discoveries to celebrate on World Oceans Day, June 8.
Do you remember Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak? It turns out wizards aren’t the only ones…
“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch, we are going back from whence we came.” John F. Kennedy
“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether…
United States President Donald Trump has announced his intent to withdraw the US from the historic Paris Agreement, the world’s first global plan to address climate change. This announcement is a call to action to national and local governments, businesses and people worldwide to step up their commitments to address climate change.
United States President Donald Trump has announced his intent to withdraw the US from the historic…
The notion that we must conquer or dominate nature has governed human behaviour for a relatively short period of our 150,000-year history on this 4.5-billion-year-old planet. It’s an understandable impulse. Our intelligence and foresight allowed us to develop complex societies, and gave us a sense of control over our existence in the face of powerful, often threatening natural forces.
The notion that we must conquer or dominate nature has governed human behaviour for a…
Recreational scuba divers have regularly been forced to euthanise banjo sharks that have been caught, mutilated and thrown back beneath the piers of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne.
Corals are typically found within an optimal range of environmental conditions, e.g. shallow, clear and…
Some thoughts on rubbish in the marine environment and how we can help stem the…
Next time you see someone throw plastic into the ocean, inform the offender that 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into oceans every year. China is responsible for 2.4 million metric tons. It is time to end such destructive behaviour.
No Blue, No Green! Next time you see someone throw plastic into the ocean, inform…
Most people understand that human-caused climate change is a real and serious threat. True, some still reject the mountains of evidence amassed by scientists from around the world over many decades, and accepted by every legitimate scientific academy and institution. But as the physical evidence builds daily — from increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events like droughts and floods to disappearing polar ice to rising sea levels — it takes an incredible amount of denial to claim we have no reason to worry.
Greenpeace dumped a 2.5 tonne ocean plastic sculpture outside Coca-Cola’s headquarters in London during April 2017. The sculpture, made from sand and waste Coca-Cola bottles, was created in protest of the company’s role in ocean plastic pollution.
Greenpeace protests Coca-Cola’s role in ocean plastic pollution with giant sculpture outside their London headquarters.…
We’ve long known extracting oil and gas comes with negative consequences, and rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, increases the problems and adds new ones — excessive water use and contamination, earthquakes, destruction of habitat and agricultural lands and methane emissions among them.
We’ve long known extracting oil and gas comes with negative consequences, and rapid expansion of…
Seals are cute and lovable but their slaughter in Canada’s annual spring hunt is neither. The mass killing is seem as inhumane by many people. It has also taken a huge toll on the species.