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.
Health Canada is currently reviewing regulations for pesticides in Canada, and three UBC researchers say regulators might want to consider what happened in Japan. A lake in Shimane Prefecture has seen its commercial fishery collapse by more than 90 per cent since 1993, when insecticides known as neonicotinoids were first introduced to the area. It just so happens that zooplankton—the tiny creatures in the water that fish feed on—declined by 83 per cent during the same period.
Using salt to clear icy roads may be an effective winter safety measure, but excess salty meltwater can wreak havoc on freshwater ecosystems and drinking water resources. In a new study, researchers show current water quality guidelines in North America and Europe are not enough to prevent dangerous levels of salinization. The findings were published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
William Hintz, an assistant professor in the University of Toledo’s Department of Environmental Sciences, recently researched the deicing salt Americans use for roads and its relation to the survival of freshwater ecosystems. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. According to the research, the buildup of salt (especially in freshwater ecosystems), which come from humans’ agricultural and mining activities, deicing salt operations, and more, impacts freshwater systems, reported Inverse News. Humans are dependent on freshwater ecosystems for drinking water. The Great Lakes on the Canada-U.S. border provide drinking water for more than 40 million Americans, reported Inverse News.
