canada

Road Salt’s Harm to Freshwater Ecosystems Could Ripple Out to All of Us

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We have a salt problem, and we’re not referring to our diets. As effective as salt is at de-icing our highways in the winter, new research reveals that its extensive use is also causing damage to freshwater ecosystems.   What’s more, saltwater concentrations deemed safe by regulators in the US, Canada, and Europe aren’t doing … Read more

North America Could Expect Over 1 Million More Opioid Deaths by 2029

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A new analysis from researchers at Stanford University and the scientific journal, The Lancet, has revealed a large number of Americans and Canadians are still becoming addicted to prescription opioids each year.   Without “urgent interventions“, the members of the Stanford-Lancet Commission estimate this deepening disaster could claim the lives of up to 1.2 million people … Read more

Risk of Death For Female Patients Is Much Higher if Surgeon Is a Man, Study Reveals

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For female patients, operation outcomes tend to be significantly better when their surgeon is also female, recent research out of Canada has found. No one really knows why that is just yet, but a new model comparing the sex of the surgeon, the sex of the patient, and the outcomes of the surgery have now revealed an … Read more

Mercury pollution: Fish recover quickly when water is no longer contaminated

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Mercury pollution is a major global environmental problem, with small-scale gold mining and coal burning the two biggest sources, but fish can recover quickly when the pollution stops Environment 15 December 2021 By Adam Vaughan Northern pike recover quickly when mercury pollution stops Imagebroker / Alamy Fish populations appear to recover rapidly from mercury pollution … Read more

Polar bears: Extreme lack of sea ice in Hudson Bay puts predators under pressure

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Sea ice in Canada’s Hudson Bay has been unusually late to form, raising fears over the impact on polar bears that hunt for seals on the ice Environment 6 December 2021 By Adam Vaughan A lone polar bear along Hudson Bay Cindy Hopkins / Alamy An extreme lack of sea ice in Canada this winter … Read more