What's Current Archives - Page 11 of 12

Wind-Driven Upwelling and Seawater Chemistry in British Columbia’s Shellfish Aquaculture Capital

Written on October 20, 2017.

– By Ben Moore-Maley(1), Debby Ianson(2), Susan Allen(1); 1: Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia; 2: Institute of Ocean Sciences, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada –

Growth of the BC shellfish aquaculture industry has fallen behind the provincial government’s 1997 projections. While the impact of farming density is under investigation, changes in carbonate chemistry due to ocean acidification have been shown to reduce growth and survival, particularly in juvenile shellfish.

A Piece of History: The Canadian Chronometric Radiosonde

Written on October 19, 2017.

– By Kenneth A. Devine –

While temperature profiles to the tropopause had been conducted in Canada for research purposes starting in 1911 (Devine & Strong, 2009), operational upper air systems did not become available until 1929 with the introduction of the radiosonde which had a built in radio transmitter. The radiosonde gave the meteorologist a three dimensional view in real time

Photograph of the UBC Glider in the water, used for the study of baleen whale habitats of Roseway Basin, NS. Glider is a long yellow tube, with wings and a tail fin. It is shown floating just beneath the surface of the water.

Ocean Gliders to Study Baleen Whale Habitat in Roseway Basin

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By T. Howatt(1) T. Ross(2), S. Waterman(1); 1: University of British Columbia, 2: Institute of Ocean Sciences –

Canadian coastal waters are interspersed with baleen whale habitats, some of which are well known and protected, while others have yet to be identified and characterized.

Photograph to accompany the CMOS presidents message. Photo is taken from the surface of an open body of water, with a setting sun in the background

Message from CMOS President: Looking Back While Moving Forward

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By Wayne Richardson, P.Eng., CMOS President –

In 1980, I left my job in Toronto as a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Environment and moved to Ottawa to join the Water Pollution Control Directorate in Environment Canada (EC). Over the years, I had many opportunities to move out of government, but I always chose to pursue the tremendous science and technology opportunities that presented themselves to a young environmental entrepreneur.

Photo showing Fort McMurray wildfire, filling the horizon with a giant plume of smoke overhead. Did anthropogenic climate change increase the chance of this extreme wildfire?

Did Anthropogenic Climate Change Increase the Chance of an Extreme Wildfire in the Fort McMurray Area?

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By Megan Kirchmeier-Young, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria –

A summary of a recent paper by Kirchmeier-Young et al. that describes an event attribution analysis to quantify the increase in seasonal metrics of extreme wildfire risk for a region in western Canada.

Image shows a section of a map of southern Canada, from west to east, coloured with various shades of grey, white, yellow, orange and red. The colours indicate the forecasted temperature for autumn 2017 in Canada, with the predominance of warmer colours indicating a strong probability that in most areas temperatures will be above normal.

Seasonal Outlook for the autumn 2017 (SON) based on CanSIPS forecast 31st August 2017

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By M. Markovic and K. Gauthier, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)

Autumn forecast (September, October, November) for 2017 temperature and precipitation in Canada includes above normal temperatures across Canada, above normal precipitation for parts of eastern Canada, and the developing influence of weak La Niña conditions.

Close up photograph of the eyes of an oyster toad fish.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Data Points: How Images Can Answer our Questions About the Environment

Written on September 1, 2017.

– A Campbell Scientific advertising feature –

“What caused this unexpected spike in my data?”
“My sensor is offline – did something knock it over?”
“If only I could see for myself what the current conditions are.”
“I wish I had visuals to support the story the data is telling me.”

Anyone monitoring their environment has thought something like this at one time or another,

Vancouver Fall and Winter 2016/17: How Bad Was It?

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By P. Odon, G. West, R. Stull; EOAS, University of British Columbia –

The fall and winter seasons of 2016/17 were noteworthy for the cold, wet weather they brought to regions of British Columbia (BC). Although all of BC experienced some impacts, the South Coast region saw particularly large impacts from an exceptionally wet fall that quickly transitioned into a persistently cold, snowy winter.

Photograph of the Curiosity rover on Mars

Watching the Dust and Clouds Lazily Float by During a Martian Summer

Written on September 1, 2017.

– By J.E. Moores, C.L. Smith and C.L. Campbell, York University –

A scientific rover named Curiosity has been trundling around on Mars for the past 5 years, taking images of the atmosphere to look at cloud and dust. Because of data constraints, our group at York University get about 12 minutes of time every week or so. Imagine trying to understand the weather by looking at only one section of the sky once a week through a toilet paper tube!