In the past 20 years, hundreds of new cities have sprung up around the world. Some are new political centres, others are aspiring trade hubs or green cities. But, whether it’s Astana, Putrajaya, or King Abdullah Economic City, the reason is the same: To increase economic growth. Surprisingly, though, many[Read More…]
Tag: climate change
Bioenergy Plantations: A step towards meeting our climate change goals
On April 22 2016, nations from across the globe signed the Paris Agreement, an international climate accord with the aim of managing countries’ greenhouse gas emissions and reducing average global temperatures increases to 2℃ above pre-industrial levels. Since 2015, it has become increasingly apparent that further reducing emissions will not[Read More…]
Divestment comes at a price to students
At the Dec. 12 McGill University Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, members of Divest McGill protested against a recent revision to the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility’s (CAMSR) mandate. The policy change would prohibit the University from using the Endowment Fund to further specific social or political[Read More…]
New statistical measure calculates relationship between climate change and plant health
Climate change is altering seasonality as we know it; the average American winter has shrunk by more than one month over the last century. While this has received plenty of attention as a positive phenomenon for sun-starved North Americans, the impact that shorter winter seasons and changing photoperiods—the interval in[Read More…]
Project pollution: McGill professor highlights the risk
On Oct. 19, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health released a report identifying pollution as the cause of nine million deaths across the world in 2015. The report addressed the costs of water, soil, and air pollution to the global economy and public health, stressing pollution as an underreported[Read More…]
The rise of invasive species denialism
Recently, dozens of opinion articles have appeared in the media—and even in scientific journals—that deny the risks that invasive species pose to the environment. These arguments claim that the field of invasion biology is biased and unscientific. Anthony Ricciardi, professor in McGill’s School of Environment, is addressing this issue. Invasion[Read More…]
Skepticism in climate science: Reasonable or regressive?
Ninety-seven per cent of scientists agree that humans contribute to climate change. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, falls into the other three per cent. “Even if we are causing [climate change], it’s hardly anything,” Moore said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. He describes himself as a “sensible[Read More…]
Why reducing emissions isn’t enough to change our climate trajectory
Audience members at the Living Soils Symposium’s climate talk on Oct. 15 fell silent when the conference’s final speaker, President and Co-Founder of The Carbon Underground Larry Kopald, spoke out on the bleak future of climate change mitigation. “I’d like to start by saying we’re not going to save the[Read More…]
Three documentaries on Netflix to get you thinking about oceans
In an age where human interplanetary travel is nearing feasibility and our species occupies all corners of the earth, our fragile oceans still remain a mystery. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), less than five per cent of the oceans have been explored. Documentary filmmakers everywhere have[Read More…]
Minister of Environment and Climate Change hosts panel at McGill
On Sept. 15, McGill University hosted a panel at Chancellor Day Hall on the future of clean energy as a means of growing the economy. The Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change and McGill law graduate, Catherine McKenna, hosted the event marking the beginning of a series of panels. McKenna[Read More…]
