Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Researchers have shown that a new mid-infrared spectrometer can precisely measure the ratios of different forms of water — known as isotopologues — in atmospheric water vapor through open air in a little over 15 minutes. Isotopologue ratios, which can be affected by land-based water evaporation and plant transpiration, are used to develop models of climate change and to understand how water is transported globally in the atmosphere.
