November 30, 2007Finally, something not caused by global warmingGlobal warming is becoming the Paris Hilton of environmental stories. Every time you pick up a paper...
November 23, 2007
Talking about the unthinkable
If actually cutting greenhouse gas emissions isn't going very well (largely due to incessant foot...
November 16, 2007
Global trade brings unwanted visitors
We've probably all heard the urban legend about the unsuspecting shopper who takes home a bunch of...
November 9, 2007
Leaders need a serious reality check
Ever read the newspaper and get the eerie feeling that you've entered the Twilight Zone?
I've been
...
November 2, 2007
Birds do better when neighbours cooperate
With so many bad news stories about the environment in the media, it's nice to hear about good news...
October 26, 2007
New species gets funny name
I've been called pond scum before, but never before has it been quite so accurate.
Researchers have
...
October 19, 2007
Human hormones mess with male fish
Most people alive today were born after 1950. To these people, our modern world is just the way...
October 12, 2007
How much is a tomato worth?
Recently a column appeared in my local Vancouver Sun newspaper about the trend of eating locally...
October 5, 2007
Thanksgiving an important seasonal ritual
I love celebrations that serve to remind us about important aspects of our lives. Mother's Day and...
September 26, 2007
Can't rely on captive breeding to save species
One of the methods often proposed to save endangered species is to breed the threatened animals in...
September 21, 2007
Species loss weakens entire ecosystems
The World Conservation Union recently released its annual Red List of endangered species. For 2007,...
September 14, 2007
Biofuels not necessarily all that green
Earlier this year, when I crossed our great country to talk to Canadians about environmental issues,...
September 7, 2007
Respect for nature has to start at home
One of the refrains I often hear is about how we have to educate our kids in schools to be more...
August 31, 2007
Get outside - it's good for you
When your mom told you to go outside and play - she really did know what was best for you. Just...
August 24, 2007
Classification determines conservation efforts
We're happy to announce that Dr. David Suzuki will be co-writing his
column with the assistance of Dr...
August 16, 2007
Warming may change the nature of the food we eat
Canadians are a well-fed bunch. We do not generally have to worry about our food supply. For most of...
August 9, 2007
Public interest in global warming still high
Six months ago, a friend told me that public opinion and media fascination with global warming would...
July 27, 2007
Reconnecting with food in the summer
Every summer, if I'm lucky, I get to spend some time with my family at our cabin on an island off...
July 6, 2007
Time to put a price on pollution
Mention the concept of a new tax to politicians and most will run screaming out of the room to go...
June 29, 2007
Human genome continues to surprise
Imagine discovering that the person running your favourite Fortune 500 company was not the CEO, as...
June 22, 2007
Keep light bulb hazards in perspective
Whenever a new product comes to market, inevitably it will have flaws that can drive some people to...
June 15, 2007
Keeping an eye on transgenic crops
Did you know that genetically modified, or "transgenic" crops are now commonplace on North American...
June 08, 2007
Still waiting for conservation after all these years
Climate change and the Kyoto Protocol are all over the news these days. But the 1992 Earth Summit in...
June 01, 2007
Powerwise campaign gets things started
One of the most interesting things I learned while crossing Canada earlier this year is that...
May 25, 2007
Climate change myths debunked
In spite of explosive news coverage about global warming over the past year, most people still have...
May 18, 2007
Forest protection vital to stem global warming
One of the hot topics at the international climate meetings in Bonn, Germany, this week is whether...
May 11, 2007
Got a good story? Tell somebody.
As a broadcast journalist, I'm well aware of the challenges today's reporters and journalists face...
May 04, 2007
Our leaders just don't get it
When Environment Minister Baird announced his government's new climate change plan, I was in Toronto...
April 27, 2007
Mysterious phenomenon has researchers baffled
What happens to them is unknown. The adults are simply gone - thousands of them. No corpses left...
April 20, 2007
Watchdog programs offer shoppers choice
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Dr. Daniel Pauly, a world-renowned...
April 13, 2007
Beware those bearing intensity targets
Ever since the media have finally decided that global warming is front-page material, politicians...
April 06, 2007
Loss of a friend is also a loss for science
On March 30th, Science, one of the world's most respected scientific journals, published a paper...
March 30, 2007
Budget long on politics, short on vision
Well, you've got to give Stephen Harper this much - he's a great politician. His budget, delivered...
March 23, 2007
Wanted: Leadership for the 21st Century
I just turned 71. That's old - at least in my books. Sometimes I can't believe that I've made it...
March 16, 2007
Searching for more sustainable options
Phew. That's all I can say now that I've finished a 30-day cross-Canada road trip to listen to...
March 09, 2007
There ought to be a law
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in Canada who doesn't own a cell phone, and I don't think...
March 02, 2007
Notes from a bus
Exhaustion. Exhilaration. Self-doubt. It seems like I've been assailed by these emotions daily on my...
February 23, 2007
An Inconvenient Truth
As I cross the country I keep coming up against two myths. These myths aren't perpetuated by...
February 16, 2007
Internet can bring communities together
I don't know what's more inspiring - the audiences or the videos. Traveling across Canada, and...
February 09, 2007
Canadians are hungry for environmental leadership
I've never been this exhausted, or this exhilarated. It's only been a week and already I'm...
February 02, 2007
What would you do if you were Prime Minister?
I love Canada. Our peoples. Our geography. Even the weather. It's a good thing, too, as I'm about to...
January 26, 2007
Agricultural policy for the birds
How do you feed nine billion people? It's a daunting question, but one we really need to be asking...
January 19, 2007
Canadians aren't afraid of change
Right now, the environment is hot. Literally and figuratively. Much of North America has hardly had...
January 12, 2007
Has Prime Minister Harper gone green?
Well, it took Stephen Harper a while, but he finally put Rona Ambrose out of her misery, shuffling...
December 22, 2006
Do you have an SUV in your living room?
Excesses often mark the holidays - too much food, too much drink and too much stuff. But it's also a
...
December 15, 2006
Real environmental progress requires big change in government
Stephane Dion may have passed the first test in his quest to rebuild the shattered Liberal party,...
December 08, 2006
Extreme weather extremely costly
Global warming may have been the last thing on the minds of Vancouverites as they dug out from a...
December 01, 2006
A license to kill
How do you protect an endangered species? Well, if you're the government of British Columbia, the...
November 24, 2006
News game not always compatible with science
"All seafood could disappear by 2050, new report," was the headline. But the psychological effect...
November 10, 2006
Stern warning changes the climate debate
Sir Nicolas Stern's recent report on the economics of global warming has finally changed the nature...
November 03, 2006
Maybe the prime minister should get out more
I'm no economist, but I read the papers. After the federal government recently unleashed the dog...
October 27, 2006
Clean Air Act fails Canadians
Call me a naive optimist, but I really hoped the federal government’s vaunted Clean Air Act might...
October 20, 2006
Going into debt a risky proposition
Most of us are all too aware of what it’s like to live in financial debt, but what about ecological...
October 13, 2006
Ocean life makes waves
Most people have heard of the “butterfly effect” – the idea that a small change, such as a butterfly...
October 06, 2006
Environment Commissioner takes feds to task
Recently, Canada’s Environment Commissioner released a report detailing the successes and failures...
September 29, 2006
Take my research, please
Recently, news blogs and newspapers reported that some politicians had cribbed research conducted by...
September 22, 2006
Big game can help protect ecosystems from global warming
Polar bears aren’t exactly living large these days. Not only is their habitat shrinking due to...
September 15, 2006
Crocodile Hunter more than just a showman
Scientists sometimes call them “charismatic megafauna,” but most people would just say they’re cute...
September 08, 2006
Saving Roy’s lake
Just how important is nature to Canadians? For some, our land defines who we are as a culture. For...
September 01, 2006
Time to ban high-seas bottom trawling
It’s easy to tune out all those bad news stories about what’s going on in our oceans. After all,...
August 25, 2006
Environment minister delivers death sentence to owls
One may be the loneliest number, but 17 is rapidly becoming one of the saddest. That's how many...
August 18, 2006
Public doesn't understand global warming
Have you ever been to a focus group? They're very odd. Often used in marketing research, these small...
July 28, 2006
Reality TV the closest some children get to reality
It's the heat of the summer - do you know where your kids are? According to a recent study, they're...
July 21, 2006
Hired guns aim to confuse
Al Gore once told me that to get politicians to listen, you have to engage the people first. The...
July 14, 2006
Bright lighting ideas need regulations to spur market
Artificial lighting is so ubiquitous in modern life that we hardly notice it or think about it...
July 07, 2006
New Act could ban dangerous pesticides
I have good news and I have bad news. So let's start with the good.
Last week, a long-awaited (since ...
June 30, 2006
Quebec gets it right on global warming
While Environment Minister Rona Ambrose fights for her political career over the federal government...
June 23, 2006
Marine reserve an idea Canada should emulate
I'm no fan of George W. Bush, for reasons too many to list. But I have to give credit where credit...
June 16, 2006
Time for the mining industry to clean up its act
From metals to minerals, we all need natural resources brought up from the earth through mining. But...
June 09, 2006
Warmer world more annoying, scientists predict
It's one of those science stories that at first appears rather irrelevant: A study out of Woods Hole...
June 02, 2006
Growing environmental concerns worry big industry groups
One of the benefits about being Canadian is that we aren't subject to all the oddities of American...
May 26, 2006
Buying your love, one word at a time
When words get in the way of your agenda, what do you do? You change the words, of course. Even if...
May 19, 2006
Canada's international reputation in jeopardy
Pity poor George W. Bush - the much-maligned president is at an all-time low in the polls. And if...
May 12, 2006
Canadians getting mad about lack of environmental action
The longer I spend on my book tour, the more I'm convinced that Canadians are really starting to get...
May 05, 2006
Public concern about climate change on the rise
When global warming is on the front cover of science journals, Time magazine and Vanity Fair all at...
April 28, 2006
Dead sea shows signs of life
Our little planet never ceases to amaze me. We keep kicking the stuffing out of her and she keeps...
April 21, 2006
Disappearing ice disturbs scientists
Climate change just won't go away, will it? Like a bad penny, it just keeps turning up.
That shouldn...
April 14, 2006
Insects make better friends than foes
As a child, I was an avid collector of insects. Back then, I wasn't aware that they are the most...
April 07, 2006
Squirrel sex makes good science, dumb politics
A recent publicity stunt by an Ontario politician to tar his opponent for spending money on ...
March 31, 2006
New elder still asking the same old questions
Last week, I turned 70. For younger people, that may seem impossibly old. But for those of us...
March 24, 2006
Preventing extinction before it begins
When most of us think about protecting species, we tend to envision ways of saving those creatures...
March 17, 2006
Nuclear power an expensive red herring
Wouldn't it be great if there were an easy answer to the problem of climate change? And wouldn't it...
March 10, 2006
Medical journal fracas makes everyone look bad
Depending on your point of view, what's been going on at the Canadian Medical Association Journal ...
March 03, 2006
Guided by unconscious voices
Attention all politicians: Take my advice - sit on it. At least, that's what the latest research is...
February 24, 2006
Economy needs a better goal than "more"
It's one of those questions that drifts in the shadows of our modern world, just waiting to be asked...
February 17, 2006
Two lost worlds give us hope
Two lost worlds were in the news last week. One was discovered halfway around the world, but the...
February 10, 2006
Learning science from President Bush
With a new conservative prime minister in office, there's been plenty of talk about how much Stephen...
February 03, 2006
Label planets, not people
Last week, Canadians elected a new prime minister and scientists announced the discovery of a...
January 27, 2006
Climate change has unexpected effects
On the surface, global warming may seem like a pretty simple process. Excess "greenhouse" gases trap...
January 20, 2006
The ups and downs of evolution
2005 wasn't an easy year for evolution, but it was a good one. In the United States, legislation to...
January 13, 2006
Fish need time to recover
Recently, I wrote about a sea change I feel I've seen in our understanding of humanity's...
January 06, 2006
Sea change in environmental understanding
The New Year is often considered a time to reflect on the past and look ahead to see what's coming...
December 16, 2005
Finally, some good climate news
We already have the UNFCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the COP/MOP. Now we can add the Marrakesh accords...
December 09, 2005
Business wants a stable climate too
When industry groups start to sound like environmentalists, you know you've got either a big problem...
December 02, 2005
Bowing before the god of technology
"According to a new study, air pollution in our city is at its lowest level in 30 years, and we have...
November 25, 2005
Stormy long-range forecasts call for change today
A recent special issue of the prestigious science journal Nature could not have been timelier. With...
November 18, 2005
Vampires on the leading edge
"Rabid vampire bats attack Brazilian children" may sound like something out of the tabloid Weekly...
October 28, 2005
Learning to look ahead again
If we were to invent a time machine, I would want to see what it was like in Africa, 100,000 years...
October 21, 2005
Time to turn Canada around
For as long as I can remember, being Canadian has always been an immense source of personal pride....
October 14, 2005
Speaking out in the name of science
When should scientists be advocates? It's a simple question that often raises a storm of controversy...
October 07, 2005
Banking on our natural capital
Anyone who regularly reads science journals knows there's no shortage of research about how human...
September 30, 2005
Perceived benefits of warming don't pan out
Stuck out in the cold on freezing February mornings, Canadians can be forgiven for thinking: "Bring...
September 23, 2005
Environmental income can help reduce poverty
A common complaint I hear again and again is that environmental groups ignore the economy. "You can...
September 16, 2005
Heat adds power to storms
Although it may not be scientifically possible to attribute any individual weather event to global...
September 09, 2005
Extreme weather likely to increase
After Hurricane Katrina plowed a swath of destruction through the Southern U.S., most people were...
September 02, 2005
Local actions have global consequences
Recently I wrote about new software called Google Earth that lets users explore the entire planet...
August 26, 2005
Taking the planet for a spin
Perspective is everything. From 50,000 kilometres away, the Earth is just a giant blue ball floating...
August 19, 2005
Need more research on environmental chemical exposure
Most of us are pretty strict about what we put in our bodies. Some people eat only organic meats and...
August 12, 2005
Living with the legacy of "away"
What do you do with waste? Why, you throw it away, of course. But think about the term, "throw it...
August 05, 2005
Organic farming stands the test of time
It might seem like a hip new trend, but various forms of organic agriculture have been around for...
July 29, 2005
Branding kids starts earlier than ever
Would you let your kids play in a swamp? Odds are, most parents would balk at such a notion today....
July 22, 2005
Helping China's environment will help the world
I don't know about you, but China scares me. It's the most populous nation on the planet - home to 1...
July 15, 2005
Environmental pollutants increase cancer risk
Ever since U.S. President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer, hundreds of billions of dollars have...
July 08, 2005
Real U.S. climate leaders not in the White House
The United States is not exactly known for having a progressive official policy on climate change....
July 01, 2005
Reform badly needed in fisheries department
The Economist magazine is not exactly known for having a particularly green image. So when the...
June 24, 2005
Scientific whaling program weak on science
I'm no economist, but from my understanding of the basics, when supply overshoots demand, prices...
June 17, 2005
Governments ignore plight of Canada's most endangered bird
Remember the old saying "extinction is forever"? Well, someone should try explaining that to the...
June 10, 2005
Toxic products add to our chemical burden
Politicians often like to talk about the importance of "cleaning up our environment" - especially...
June 3, 2005
Canada's big lie
Feeling smugly superior of Americans may be a great Canadian pastime, but lately it seems that we...
May 27, 2005
Need to curb appetite for bushmeat
Last week, the journal Science reported the discovery of a new species of monkey in Africa....
May 20, 2005
Shades of gray dominate science
In a world where things are usually presented as either good or bad, us versus them or black versus...
May 13, 2005
Wind energy part of a sustainable future
Recently, I wrote an editorial in New Scientist magazine about the "not-in-my-backyard" approach...
May 06, 2005
Sharing gas tax will help cities
Official or not, it seems that our federal politicians are in full-on electioneering mode. Right now...
April 29, 2005
Energy efficiency shouldn't just be for those who can afford it
Imagine you only have a small amount of money and you had to decide between spending it on food for...
April 22, 2005
Kyoto - amazing opportunity or political football?
Looking at the media coverage of Canada's recently announced Kyoto plan, you'd be forgiven for...
April 15, 2005
Car industry lies to Canadians
Canadians should be disgusted with their federal government this week, but not just because of what...
April 08, 2005
Ecosystem assessment provides baseline for change
Media reports about the findings of a massive new United Nations-sponsored study have been decidedly...
April 01, 2005
Transgenic canola not friendly to bees, butterflies
While debate over the benefits and dangers of genetically modified crops
may have quieted down,...
March 18, 2005
Transporting food can cost the earth
When it comes to food, buying local has been the mantra of environmental groups for years. After all...
March 11, 2005
Tiny human ancestor continues to surprise
Last fall, researchers excavating a site on the Indonesian island of Flores stunned the scientific...
March 04, 2005
Science education an ongoing process
Am I wasting my time? Good question. I spent the first half of my life working as a scientist. But,...
February 25, 2005
Climate science keeps on ticking
If you didn't know what the Kyoto Protocol was all about a few weeks ago, you'd be hard pressed not...
February 18, 2005
Federal budget a test of government courage
Green comes in many shades. There's the green grass of spring, green with envy, green eggs and ham,...
February 11, 2005
Diversity creates stability and security
In the late 1950s, geneticists began to analyze individual genes in plants, fruit flies and mice....
February 04, 2005
Individuals can't protect the climate by themselves
Way back in 1997, world leaders responded to scientists' warnings that global warming had the...
January 28, 2005
Mad cows a symptom of a sick food system
The discovery of yet another Canadian cow infected with BSE, or mad cow disease, has again raised...
January 21, 2005
Canada can learn from California
To mandate or not to mandate, that is the question.
At least, that is the question our environment
...
January 14, 2005
Tsunami relief shows humanity's capacity to give
When a wall of water crashed across the shorelines of several Asian countries on December 26, it was...
January 07, 2005
Sustainability - a new bottom line (Part Three of Three)
Last time, I talked about the factors that have led to a shattering of our worldview, but I only...
December 17, 2004
Time to reinvent our future (Part Two)
Last time, I suggested that human beings have almost always lived within a worldview in which
...
December 10, 2004
Putting the pieces back together (Part One)
Scientists think that our species, Homo sapiens, emerged about 100,000 years ago somewhere in Africa
...
December 03, 2004
Christmas complaints miss the point
It started over a month ago - even before Halloween. The television commercials, the flyers in the...
November 19, 2004
Unsustainable fishing can kill land mammals
In spite of recent scares about BSE and avian flu, those of us living in developed countries have it
...
November 12, 2004
Don't mistake U.S. criticism for contempt
What have you done? What have you done? It's the question I wanted to ask my American friends after...
November 05, 2004
Mini-hominids rock the scientific community
For this column, I was going to write about the U.S. missile defense system, but something far too...
October 29, 2004
Some understanding of science vital for leadership
Recently I was asked, what is the most powerful force shaping our society today? While politics,...
October 22, 2004
Biotech can pose problems for organic farmers
Recently, I met with a group of organic farmers in Saskatchewan who are at the frontlines in the...
October 15, 2004
Peace Prize a well-deserved honour
Sometimes what at first seems like a minor change can actually signal major shift in understanding.
...
October 08, 2004
Getting heard is harder than ever
This year marks my 25th as host of The Nature of Things. Recently, an interviewer asked how...
October 01, 2004
Health care needs more than band-aids
The recent meeting of the First Ministers to decide the fate of Canada's medical services provided a...
September 24, 2004
Science struggles under W's thumb
Who's got the science chops, George or John? A leading science journal is leaving it up to readers...
September 17, 2004
Clearing the air for our kids
Air pollution is often accepted as part of life in urban areas. But new studies have shown that our...
September 10, 2004
Policing an increasingly chaotic world
If the crisis in Sudan is an indication of the international community's current capacity to respond...
September 03, 2004
Toxins in food supply signal need for change
"Higher levels of flame retardants found in farmed salmon" read the headlines a few weeks ago. While...
August 27, 2004
Focus on hydrogen economy has things backwards
As summer slides towards fall, fuel-cell manufacturers and auto-makers are out on the streets of...
August 20, 2004
Hope for coral reef ecosystems
Finally, some good news about global warming. First, scientists say that they have reduced the...
August 13, 2004
Understanding diversity the first step in protecting it
A massive deep-sea expedition in the North Atlantic recently uncovered hundreds of species of fish...
July 30, 2004
Back in the saddle, but not on top
Canadian media outlets were abuzz last week with reports of Canada’s leap back into fourth place
...
July 16, 2004
AIDS epidemic more than a health issue
With nearly twice as many of the world's poorest people now having access to AIDS antiviral drugs as...
July 09, 2004
Time for renewable energy is now
While there was certainly no shortage of hot air during Canada's recent federal election campaign,...
July 02, 2004
Invisible world in need of better PR
Scientists often lament about the loss of "biodiversity" occurring worldwide as a result of human...
June 25, 2004
Greatest climate challenge may be overcoming ideology
A friend asked the other day if I ever got tired of writing about environmental issues. Well, to be...
June 18, 2004
Soils and atmosphere intricately linked
Scientists tell us that of all the issues facing humanity this century, the biggest challenge may be...
June 11, 2004
Obesity about far more than body image
We're too fat.
There, I said it. Now let the letters fly. It seems that every time I write a column...
June 04, 2004
Designer ecosystems now in vogue
We have designer clothes and designer perfumes. Now we need designer ecosystems - at least according
...
May 28, 2004
Cities intensify climate problems
Living in cities, it's easy to forget about our connection to the natural world. In human-created...
May 21, 2004
Missed conservation opportunities prove costly
Sick of paying through the nose at the pumps? Blame the government - but maybe not for the reasons...
May 14, 2004
Harnessing the power of stuff
Modern life is a communications paradox. We are in touch with each other like never before - cell...
May 07, 2004
Potholes on the hydrogen highway
It's impossible not to have been sucked into the vortex of hoopla about the "hydrogen economy" or...
April 30, 2004
Change is coming, but when?
"Don't you ever get tired of writing about bad news?" It's a question I get asked a lot. Well here's...
April 23, 2004
Climate change movie not exactly rocket science
Next month, a nifty little movie called The Day After Tomorrow will arrive in theatres. It looks...
April 16, 2004
Parks only the start of conservation
Recently, I discussed new studies offering further evidence that the earth is undergoing the sixth...
April 09, 2004
Butterflies may make better canaries
Recently, I wrote about a report from Birdlife International that described how birds around the...
April 02, 2004
Canada missing out on clean economy potential
"Climate change has stuck its head above the parapet - it's not an issue politicians can hide from...
March 26, 2004
Listen to the birds
Most everyone has heard the analogy of the canary in the coalmine. Miners used to take the birds,...
March 19, 2004
A budget we can live with
It's funny. Exactly a year ago at this time I wrote about how Canada had changed. We had just...
March 12, 2004
Honesty takes a backseat to our relentless pursuit of more
Corporate scandals, political scandals, journalists fabricating stories, researchers fudging data -...
March 05, 2004
Is our climate nearing the tipping point?
A report that argues global warming is a greater threat to world security than terrorism and...
February 27, 2004
Nothing simple about nature
People generally like simple answers. This happened, so this happened. Cause and effect. Simple.
But
...
February 20, 2004
Obesity can't be solved at the individual level
Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation recently warned that "fat is the new tobacco," a catchy way of...
February 13, 2004
Canada could be sustainable within a generation
Politicians often complain that I'm too hard on them. "You don't understand," they say. "We have all...
February 05, 2004
Malaysian conference gets to the heart of sustainability
Hear the term "convention on biological diversity" and one might tend to think of biologists...
January 30, 2004
Messing up a planet is easy, fixing it takes time
Most Canadians are used to life moving at break-neck speed. We carry cell phones so we can be...
January 23, 2004
Changing the future means changing priorities
News that global warming could push one quarter of the world's plants and animals to the edge of...
January 16, 2004
Industrial meat production causes more problems than it solves
A massive new scientific study that found high contamination levels in farmed salmon made headlines...
January 09, 2004
Diseases of the poor badly underfunded
With the flu season upon us, Canadians are naturally concerned about getting sick. We're washing our...
January 02, 2004
Media could help build better connections
Most of us read the newspaper or watch the news to find out what is going on in the world. These
...
December 19, 2003
Consumer products start and end with nature
Christmas season means advertising season. Local mailboxes and newspapers laden with flyers....
December 12, 2003
Air not as anonymous as we think
Most of us generally don't think about the air we breathe. Why would we? It's always there, all...
December 05, 2003
Big technology won't solve water problems
In Canada, it's hard not to take water for granted. You turn on the tap and - voila - there it is!
...
November 28, 2003
Industry needs a push to build better cars
It's that time of year. Late fall - a crisp chill in the air, frost on the ground - and automakers
...
November 21, 2003
Growing population drives the need for change
In the next 50 years, 2.6 billion more souls will be added to our little club called humanity. That...
November 14, 2003
Better living through pig iron
Is pig iron the way to a better planet? The Canadian government apparently seems to think so. It's...
Nov 07, 2003
Ocean meadows threatened by development
Human beings are air-breathing landlubbers, and that biological constraint shapes the way we see the...
Oct 31, 2003
Mother Nature, the newest scapegoat
I happen to live in a part of the country that has, of late, been especially hard hit by what are...
Oct 24, 2003
Love nature? It's in our genes
While in Ottawa recently, I was amazed to discover that the city was packed with tourists coming to...
Oct 17, 2003
Canada's reputation at risk
Everyone knows that Canada is a wild land and that Canadians are all environmentalists at heart. We...
Oct 03, 2003
Food and exercise, medicines for life
This summer, my wife and I were lucky enough to spend a wonderful 10 days in a remote part of...
Sep 26, 2003
Focus on symptoms obscures underlying problems
Out walking our dog one morning, I found my neighbour washing a brand new car. An SUV. Now, we live...
Sep 19, 2003
Have to keep cool heads about forest fires
Like unwanted guests, British Columbia's forest fires failed to pack up and go home with the rest of...
Sep 12, 2003
Suburban sprawl bad for people and the planet
Last week, millions of children around North America went back to school. But most didn't walk or...
Sep 05, 2003
Mixed messages obscure the importance of action
Watching the news, it seems that there's a new environmental crisis occurring almost daily: global...
Aug 29, 2003
Protect coral reefs - don't buy an SUV
The connection may seem tenuous - after all, how could driving an SUV have anything to do with...
Aug 22, 2003
Blackout shows the need for conservation
A Chinese villager looking at a North American newspaper after the big blackout last week could be...
Aug 15, 2003
People are the ultimate predators
Humans are remarkably efficient at killing. Although we often marvel at the ability of big predators...
Aug 08, 2003
Oil industry looking for a free ride
After the federal government adopted the Kyoto Protocol last December, Canadians could be forgiven...
Aug 01, 2003
Living dead haunt Southeast Asia
"The living dead" may sound like something borrowed from a horror film, but that's what ecologists...
Jul 25, 2003
Missile defense technically unfeasible
Technophilia simply means the love of technology. It's a term that could be used to describe the...
Jul 18, 2003
Cottage country gets urban pollution
If you thought you could escape urban air pollution by heading to the lakeside cottage for the...
Jul 11, 2003
Olympics could showcase our natural heritage
By now, all of Canada and much of the world has heard that Vancouver will host the 2010 Winter...
Jul 04, 2003
World's children need our help
We in North America naturally fear for the welfare of our children. Like other parents around the...
Jun 27, 2003
Science needs a makeover
Science has an image problem. Not that science isn't important to people today. Indeed, science and...
Jun 20, 2003
Protecting ourselves means protecting the great apes
Our closest living relatives are in big trouble. Hunting and a particularly nasty virus are killing...
Jun 13, 2003
Thrifty gene can be costly
With SARS and other new and mysterious diseases in the headlines, it’s easy to overlook more common,...
Jun 06, 2003
Right target, wrong reason
Many pundits have recently taken swings at Prime Minister Jean Chrétien for speaking critically of
...
May 30, 2003
Human activities give rise to new diseases
SARS, BSE and West Nile aren't just making headlines, they're making history. These diseases are...
May 23, 2003
Curtail industrial fishing now before it’s too late
One by one, population by population, we are pushing species to extinction. And if we don’t take...
May 16, 2003
Canada should say no to missile defense
We did the right thing once; we cannot afford to do it again. So seems to be the logic behind Prime...
May 09, 2003
Garden tools shouldn't pollute
It's spring, and that means Canadians are finally able to spend more time outdoors, in our parks and...
May 02, 2003
Great Lakes deserve a break from pollution
I spent my youth in southern Ontario where Lake Erie, the Thames River and a huge swamp were my...
Apr 25, 2003
Time to rediscover our place in nature
Over the past series of essays, I have tried to examine the roots of our ecological crisis. We live...
Apr 18, 2003
Fragmented worldview disconnects us from nature
Recently, I took us on an imaginary trip four billion years back in time. The exercise was to show...
Apr 11, 2003
We all need nature
Most Canadians today live in large cities - human-created habitats filled primarily with other...
Apr 04, 2003
Species inventory desperately needed
Recently, I suggested that in order to manage something sustainably, we need to have both an...
Apr 02, 2003
How sustainable is our development?
Sustainable development is a popular concept based on the assumption that we know enough to "manage"...
Mar 21, 2003
We're stuck in our teenage years
This month I reach my 67th birthday. Yikes. I was wondering where the first three months of 2003
...
Mar 13, 2003
Real leadership needed to help reduce energy bills
With natural gas prices skyrocketing this winter, people aren't just shuddering from the cold - they...
Mar 07, 2003
Consumer culture no accident
Most people I talk to today understand that humanity is inflicting harsh damage on the planet's life...
Feb 28, 2003
Demise of Asian antelope should be a warning to us
Have you ever heard of a saiga? Probably not, and if things continue the way they are going, you may...
Feb 21, 2003
Smaller households can leave bigger footprints
Human population has an obvious impact on the health of our environment. Generally, more people...
Feb 14, 2003
War is not the answer
Democracy is most challenged when faced with a crisis. When times are good, it's easy to guarantee...
Feb 07, 2003
Taking advantage of Kyoto
Round about this time of the year, every year, the federal government hunkers down to prepare the...
Jan 24, 2003
Time to update political fundraising rules
One of the unfortunate results of globalization has been an increase in the influence of...
Jan 10, 2003
Human cloning turns into a freakshow
Well, give the Raelians this much - they know how to put on a show. The group, which claims to have...
Jan 03, 2003
Grow a heart
As a boy, I remember being awed by the ability of some species to regenerate damaged body parts. Cut...
Dec 20, 2002
Air pollution can cause mutations
Six years ago, scientists found that herring gulls living near steel mills around the harbour in...
Dec 13, 2002
Mouse map an important advance for science
You can be forgiven if you didn't jump for joy when scientists announced recently that they had...
Dec 06, 2002
Climate science shows need for Kyoto
With all the discussion in the media about the minutia of the Kyoto Protocol, it's easy to forget...
Nov 29, 2002
Ban single-hulled tankers now
Let me get this straight. The Prestige, that flimsy, single-hulled tanker that recently sank off the...
Nov 22, 2002
Learning fisheries management the hard way
Not that long ago, fishermen, politicians and even scientists saw the oceans as something like an...
Nov 15, 2002
Fossil fuels not the only culprit in climate change
Most everyone has now heard about how burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas contributes to...
Nov 08, 2002
A growing backlash against waste
The decade for the environment may have turned out to be quite the opposite, but it's not too late...
Nov 01, 2002
Unwilling stewards of the planet
You may have heard the metaphor about humanity's "footprint" on the earth. It's often referred to as...
Oct 25, 2002
Meeting regulations costs less than expected
Here's a prediction. After the federal government ratifies the Kyoto Protocol - and Prime Minister...
Oct 18, 2002
Marine park protects more than penguins
News of the creation of the world's largest marine protected area near Antarctica reminded me of a...
Oct 11, 2002
Malaria genome research offers hope
The headline read "Mosquito scourge zapped?" and the story gushed about how researchers had...
Oct 04, 2002
Dirty air fuels global warming
While Alberta and the fossil fuel sector trade jabs with clean energy advocates over the Kyoto...
Sep 27, 2002
We've heard this story before
The other night while I was watching television, an ad came on for an auto company boasting about...
Sep 20, 2002
Improving agricultural efficiency to feed the world
Whether you ply the aisles of a hangar-like megamart every week, pick up a few things each day from...
Sep 13, 2002
Changing for good
Kyoto. It's everywhere in the news these days. But while most of Canada prepares to adopt this...
Sep 06, 2002
Cooperation essential in a shrinking world
Forty years ago this month, Rachael Carson published her seminal work Silent Spring. The book...
Aug 30, 2002
Conserving nature is like money in the bank
Ask folks what they value about nature and most would probably be quick to mention aesthetic and...
Aug 23, 2002
We all depend on nature
In 1988 while filming a two-hour documentary on the Amazon rainforest, I encountered a remarkable...
Aug 16, 2002
Restoring the bounty of the seas
Imagine a scenario in which hunters cut down all the trees in a forest to search for deer and you've...
Aug 09, 2002
World's largest flower threatened
Its smell is usually described as either "rotting flesh mixed with excrement" or "burnt sugar and...
Aug 02, 2002
Misuse of antibiotics must be curtailed
More than a quarter-century ago, I did a television program that discussed the hazards of misusing...
Jul 26, 2002
AIDS crisis needs more than talk
By the close of the largest-ever international AIDS conference earlier this month, one couldn't help...
Jul 19, 2002
How much stuff is enough?
When I was a teenager during the 1950s, I loved looking at articles in magazines like Popular...
Jul 12, 2002
We're all animals here
The sign in the shopping mall said, "No animals allowed." As I read it, I didn't know whether to...
Jul 05, 2002
Protesters' message lost on the media
When thousands of citizens marched down the streets of Calgary last week to protest the meeting of...
Jun 28, 2002
Protecting population diversity
Most people have probably heard about how the earth is rapidly losing biodiversity worldwide. We...
Jun 21, 2002
Waiting to fight climate change not a viable option
Scientists and environmental groups often paint grim pictures of a world with a substantially...
Jun 14, 2002
Feeding our senses is important to health
We live in a visually oriented world where the vast majority of our attentions are focused on what...
Jun 07, 2002
Organic farming a realistic alternative
Strange how a movement that began with the best of intentions has managed to generate so much...
May 31, 2002
Time to pull our heads out of the sand
What is the biggest environmental challenge of the 21st century? Global warming? The loss of...
May 24, 2002
Space images just the beginning
Recently, newspapers around the world published spectacular images taken by the Hubble space...
May 17, 2002
Tiny life forms excite researchers
How many different kinds of life forms do we share the earth with? It seems like such simple...
May 10, 2002
Adopting Kyoto an uphill battle
Everyone, it seems, is talking about the Kyoto Protocol. Canada's environment minister is talking...
May 03, 2002
Diseases of the poor need attention
Disease research is always a hot news topic. That's only natural - we're all scared of getting sick....
Apr 26, 2002
Tiny portions of pesticide can cause big problems
Two years ago this spring I wrote a column about the cosmetic use of pesticides on our lawns and...
Apr 18, 2002
Game farm diseases threaten wildlife
Earlier this month, investigators discovered an elk at an Alberta game farm that was infected with a...
Apr 12, 2002
Prevention still best defense against cancer
How many times have you turned on the evening news to hear the anchorperson lead with one of the...
Apr 05, 2002
A sense of wonder
Humans, I believe, are naturally drawn to lives and worlds outside of our own. We revel in the...
Mar 29, 2002
Links between air pollution, human health clarified
In the last 50 years, most of humanity has been transformed into urban dwellers, more at home in the...
Mar 22, 2002
Health care for the rest of the world
In Canada, it seems that hardly a day goes by without a news story about the debate over health care...
Mar 15, 2002
Fusion claim sparks fear, hope
When researchers in Tennessee zapped a chamber of organic solvent with high-speed neutrons, they...
Mar 08, 2002
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Critics have called me an alarmist, a fear-monger and a doom-sayer for expressing my concerns about...
Mar 01, 2002
Amazon faces unexpected pressures
From 7,000 feet, the jungle below looks like a vast, green ocean. On this clear day, it stretches in...
Feb 22, 2002
Obesity threatens public health
Growing up in developed world of the 20th Century, we have come to expect that each succeeding...
Feb 15, 2002
Greenhouse gas treaty has economic benefits
Not content with merely pulling out of the Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the U...
Feb 08, 2002
We mustn't neglect the basics of biology
There's an old stereotype of biologists as bespectacled eccentrics working in the field to...
Jan 25, 2002
Not all threatened species tug at our heartstrings
When we think of endangered species, most of us tend to think about the "poster children" that...
Jan 18, 2002
Need to focus on solutions
"The monarch butterfly, and the rest of us, can't wait much longer for practical measures on...
Jan 11, 2002
A noble goal
Finally, a new year is upon us. Many people couldn’t wait for 2001 to be over. Indeed, was a...
Dec 28, 2001
Inventing our future
At the beginning of every new year, people tend to reflect on the events of the past 12 months and...
Dec 21, 2001
Need for international cooperation never greater
After the horrors of September 11, I had a hope that somehow out of all this evil the world would...
Dec 14, 2001
Letting the big one get away
Fish is a staple menu item in restaurants across the North America – including cities far from the...
Dec 07, 2001
Breaking free of the oil-hog cycle
There's never been a better time to buy a new vehicle! Zero per cent financing! Be a patriot - buy a...
Nov 30, 2001
Laying the groundwork for a sustainable energy future
We Canadians tend to take energy for granted. We have plenty of it in various forms from coal to oil...
Nov 23, 2001
Too much of a good thing
Humans need food. Humans use energy. With these two basic truths, the Second International Nitrogen...
Nov 16, 2001
The good, the bad and the ugly of skepticism
Skeptics are a strange bunch. Certainly, a healthy dose of skepticism is essential to science and...
Nov 09, 2001
Green budget would boost national security
Canadians can expect new money for border security and the military, but not much else. That's the...
Nov 02, 2001
Gradual changes can make ecosystems vulnerable
A well-known children's game involves removing wooden blocks from a block tower, one at a time, and...
Oct 26, 2001
Sustainable agriculture a learning process
Feeding six billion people is no easy task. Feeding nine billion will be a tremendous challenge,...
Oct 19, 2001
Wildlife corridors give species breathing room
Creating "wildlife corridors" to allow animals to migrate between otherwise isolated patches of...
Oct 11, 2001
Caged animals can go stir crazy
One of the hallmarks of the scientific method is that experiments must be standardized and...
Oct 04, 2001
Reefs suffer from poisoning, blasting
Anyone who has ever dived at healthy coral reefs knows how spectacular they can be – communities of...
Sep 21, 2001
Antimissile system dangerous, misguided
Once the horror of last week’s terrorist attack on the U.S. subsides, the demand to make America...
Sep 14, 2001
Deadwood brings new life
It may be hard to believe, but trees can actually create more habitats for various species after...
Sep 07, 2001
Majority of life diversity yet to be discovered
You realize just how little we know about life on Earth when the largest animals currently walking...
Aug 31, 2001
Stem cell research not a question of either, or
One of the hottest science topics in the news recently has been "stem" cell research. These cells...
Aug 24, 2001
Wasted energy means more heat and smog
It's interesting that within weeks of Canada agreeing to the terms of the Kyoto Protocol,...
Aug 17, 2001
Emerging technologies raise ethical questions
I first began talking about the ethical issues raised by cloning human beings back in the 1960s. My...
Aug 10, 2001
Oceans could thrive again
Looking at the state of our oceans today, it's hard to imagine what they were like just a few...
Aug 03, 2001
Canada must meet Bonn commitments
It's amazing what 1,700 people working around the clock on a common goal can accomplish. In the case...
Jul 27, 2001
AIDS fight needs resources, not promises
An agreement made last week at the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy to increase spending for the global...
Jul 20, 2001
Canada’s climate stance scientifically untenable
This week, international climate talks resume in Bonn, Germany. These negotiations are actually an...
Jul 13, 2001
Simplistic views threaten diversity
Last week, I complimented Canada's Supreme Court for upholding a Quebec town's ban on the cosmetic...
Jul 06, 2001
Pesticide decision a victory for Canadians
Last week, the Supreme Court gave all Canadians a present just in time for Canada Day. The court...
Jun 29, 2001
Weakened ocean currents could cause climate flip
Scientists tell us that increased greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are making our world a warmer...
Jun 22, 2001
Scientific whaling not justified
Next month, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will meet in London, England to set quotas...
Jun 15, 2001
Repeating history at our peril
More than 13,000 years ago when humans first set foot in the Americas, there were no roads...
Jun 08, 2001
Stem cell research has enormous potential
Last month, the federal government introduced draft legislation on new reproductive technologies. It...
Jun 01, 2001
Sound science a good basis for policy
The application of science in industry, medicine and the military is by far the greatest force...
May 25, 2001
Developing nations need help to protect environment
Developing countries are home to many of the world's most species-rich ecosystems. Yet these...
May 18, 2001
Water management a global issue
Another Canadian community has been hit with a tainted-water scare, renewing calls for federal...
May 11, 2001
Environmental science takes a back seat
President Bush never claimed that environmental science was one of his priorities, but four months...
May 04, 2001
Globalization must include more than just economics
The fence has come down and the protesters have gone home - the Summit of the Americas in Quebec...
Apr 27, 2001
Organic farming a growing field
It wasn't long ago that organic farming in North America was considered small potatoes - something...
Apr 20, 2001
Earth Day must be more than a photo-op
Every Earth Day (April 22), television stations around North America send out crews looking for some...
Apr 13, 2001
Forest conservation takes a big step forward
News stories about the environment are often so depressing or even downright frightening that it's...
Apr 06, 2001
No quick fix to our diet dilemmas
If dietary fat was a cartoon villain, it would probably be portrayed as a towering, virtually...
Mar 30, 2001
Dance, DaimlerChrysler, dance
Shortly after my article a few weeks ago about DaimlerChrysler's plans to sell their massive Unimog...
Mar 23, 2001
President's reversal on campaign promise a big mistake
It sounded almost too good to be true, and it was. After showing early signs that his administration...
Mar 16, 2001
Efficiency more important than new oil
Spring is almost here and it can't come soon enough for those who have been through a long, cold...
Mar 09, 2001
Time to rethink meat production
Burning pyres of dead animals are once again dotting the British countryside as the nation is...
Mar 02, 2001
Give your head a shake
What do you do when 700 of the world's leading climate scientists representing more than 100...
Feb 23, 2001
Genome sequence just the beginning
As a geneticist, I could not help but feel a sense of wonder and awe after last week's release of...
Feb 16, 2001
Amazon still under fire
Mention the word "Amazon" today and people in the industrialized world are more likely to think of...
Feb 09, 2001
Marine mammals face an array of ocean threats
Recently, I wrote about how far more oil ends up in our oceans from common, everyday activities than...
Feb 02, 2001
Galapagos spill a pointed reminder of our reliance on oil
I have had the privilege of travelling to every continent in the world and of all the places I've...
Jan 26, 2001
New president signals a change in priorities
America's influence on world politics, economics and culture is greater today than ever before. So...
Jan 19, 2001
Making our resolutions count
January is a time when many of us make resolutions. And it's a time when almost as many of us break...
Jan 12, 2001
City garbage can create opportunities
In nature, one creature's waste is another's opportunity. An elephant's dung, for example, is an...
Jan 05, 2001
Finding solutions on Canada's west coast
Last week I talked about the richness and diversity of Canada's rainforests, located along British...
Dec 29, 2000
Canada's rainforests a national treasure
Look at a map of British Columbia's Pacific coast. On the strip between the ocean and coastal...
Dec 21, 2000
The irony of a consumer Christmas
Last year at this time, the Y2K bug loomed over us like a spectre, threatening to scramble our cell...
Dec 13, 2000
Global warming slows ozone repair
A Canadian business magazine recently featured an excellent article on the race to build more...
Dec 06, 2000
POP agreement needed to eliminate toxic chemicals
One of the most remarkable traits of the human species is our adaptability. We quickly learn how to...
Nov 29, 2000
The beauty and the horror of science
At a recent international biotechnology conference in Vancouver, an industry spokesperson made...
Nov 22, 2000
Ballast water harbours billions of life forms
Global trade has been responsible for much of the spread of invasive species around the world. But...
Nov 15, 2000
Tough times at the climate summit
How do you convince some of the world's biggest polluters to quit stalling and do something about...
Nov 08, 2000
Mad cows provide tough lessons
Living in the developed world, we often take access to a safe, reliable food supply for granted. But...
Nov 01, 2000
Requiem for a reef
Last week, the Globe and Mail ran an article describing how one quarter of the world's coral reefs...
Oct 25, 2000
Everyday actions have environmental costs
The other day I received a disposable piece of cloth-like material in the mail, wrapped in several...
Oct 18, 2000
Diversity can improve crop strength
Rice is the second most important food crop in the world after wheat. In Asia, where 92 per cent of...
Oct 11, 2000
More studies on urban environments needed
Human beings, like all animals, need habitat in which to live. Today, the most common human habitat...
Oct 04, 2000
Learning the art of cloning
There's a new bull on the block and his name is Starbuck II. He's a clone of Starbuck, a famous bull...
Sep 27, 2000
Cloning technology comes of age
Ever since the Soviet Union shocked the world in 1957 by launching Sputnik, the first human-made...
Sep 20, 2000
Sydney sets precedent with Green Games
The Olympics are all about sports. And few things are more thrilling than watching the world's best...
Sep 13, 2000
Climate paper twisted by contrarians
Climate science isn't easy for most of us to understand at the best of times, but it seemed to...
Sep 06, 2000
Thinking critically about information sources
Who do you turn to for news and information about science and health issues? Television? Newspapers?...
Aug 30, 2000
Who are the real survivors?
You'd have to have been living under a rock this summer not to have heard about the mega-hit...
Aug 23, 2000
Exploring the world under our feet
One of the hallmarks of the human species is our intense curiosity. It has driven us to explore the...
Aug 16, 2000
How do you measure quality of life?
Headlines on the front pages of some Canadian newspapers recently trumpeted an Industry Canada...
Aug 09, 2000
Changing energy sources means changing priorities
The recent pipeline spill of several thousand barrels of oil into a British Columbia river is a...
Aug 02, 2000
Powerful lobby group disintegrates
Some persistent myths about the cost of slowing climate change may finally be coming to a rest as...
Jul 26, 2000
Putting a price tag on nature
Many people believe that nature's value cannot be put into dollars and cents. That is, they value...
Jul 19, 2000
Consumers can drive environmental change
Last week I bought my first new car in more than three decades. A new car! "How could you?" you may...
Jul 12, 2000
Fish stocks face stormy times
In the new movie The Perfect Storm, fishermen brave a brutal Atlantic storm in a desperate search...
Jul 05, 2000
An entire generation lost
AIDS has devastated hundreds of thousands of North American families since it was first diagnosed...
Jun 26, 2000
The disappearing sea - part two
Last week I discussed the consequences of a grand Soviet scheme to turn the area around the Aral Sea...
Jun 21, 2000
The disappearing sea - part one
Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent, once oases along the fabled silk road to Cathay, are still...
Jun 14, 2000
Connecting the dots
The headlines were all there - "National water crisis forecast," "Ridiculous' gas prices soar again,...
Jun 07, 2000
Walkerton should be a wake-up call
According to the United Nations, more than 1.4 billion people in the world do not have access to...
Dec 29, 1999
Looking to the future of science
Scientific discovery will continue to flow from laboratories in the coming century. But the nature...
Dec 15, 1999
Scientists turn up the heat on climate studies
This past week marked the second anniversary of a landmark international agreement, the Kyoto...
Dec 01, 1999
The mysterious powers of smells
It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Having worked in TV, radio and print, I...
Nov 24, 1999
New trade regulations threaten environmental health
Transnational corporations, NAFTA, globalization - 20 years ago terms like these either didn't exist...
Nov 17, 1999
Toxic chemicals persist in the environment
I don't live near a typical commercial farm, but the odds are that I still share my home with...
Nov 10, 1999
Genetically modifying our food: Part three
Thousands of years of traditional plant breeding by farmers and scientists has created the food...
Nov 03, 1999
Genetically modifying our food: Part two
Right now, about three million hectares of Canadian farmland are growing crops of plants that have...
Oct 27, 1999
Genetically modifying our food: Part one
Recently, I gave a speech at a Toronto health food conference where I spoke out against the...
Oct 20, 1999
And baby makes six billion
Last week, somewhere on Earth, human being number six billion was born. There are now three times as...
Appearances
