Open pen aquaculture has suffered a great many
criticisms these past few decades, but the most damning of all was shared with
me only recently by a thoughtful New Brunswick marine biologist. As she
explained it, the reason open-pen aquaculture...
About 370 million years ago, when Nova Scotia was in the act of
mountain building, our planet’s tumultuous crust permitted the escape of two
elements which, to this day, are found concentrated together in our province’s
bedrock.
The spirit of competition is a wonderful thing, a magic
ingredient which turns speed-skating with sticks into a game of hockey, pushing
people to lengths they couldn’t otherwise justify and toward milestones we
wouldn’t otherwise notice.
Except...
In a recent Canadian
Press article, an interviewee blamed “radical environmental groups”
for a downturn in the number of new oil wells being drilled this year across
Canada, and sluggish overall growth for fossil fuels. The quote stuck with me.
Spring can be an informative time, as
the veil of winter is pulled back to reveal the indiscretions of a season
filling our ditches. Into these reservoirs of outright laziness we discard
styrofoam, rubber tires and old boots, occasionally fridges...
The Pilikan House is a living lab on the Middleton
campus of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), designed and equipped to
produce as much energy as it in turn consumes, championing what the science
folk call net-zero housing. I...
For years now, members of the conservation community
and even anonymous government employees have expressed to me their worry that
exactly this would happen - that years of lethargy from our provincial
government would result, finally, in their abandoning the...
By Zack Metcalfe
It’s said that between the ages of 18-25 we lose our ability to hear the ultrasonic whine of the bat.
This depends, of course, on the person,...
“Remote islands are Canada’s most endangered
ecosystem,” said Ian Jones, a professor of biology with Memorial University who
specializes in seabirds and island conservation.
An island qualifies as remote if its ecosystem formed
more or less in...
In a recent column, I expounded on the encouraging fact
that Canada’s electrical grid derives 67 per cent of its juice from renewable
sources, chiefly hydroelectric, wind and solar in descending order. If you
include nuclear, which is carbon free...