DAM RACISM

Dams disproportionately removed from areas with more non-Hispanic white residents

by Geological Society of America

Dam removal project completed in 2018 along the Paulinskill River in New Jersey. Credit: Josh Galster.

Since the 1970s, dams have been removed from the U.S. at an increasing rate, with the aim to improve the ecology of river ecosystems, fish migration pathways, water quality, and recreation spaces.

"We have about 90,000 dams here in the United States and these dams were built for a whole host of reasons, and many of them are reaching the end of their lifespans. So it's starting to be recognized that their removal will have net benefits for society," said Josh Galster, an associate professor in the department of Earth and Environmental Studies at Montclair State University.

In 2018, Galster was working on a dam removal project on the Paulinskill River near Columbia, New Jersey, doing scientific monitoring of the river. Since the dam was being removed to improve the natural setting of the recreation areas in an already quite scenic area of New Jersey, Galster wondered where else dam removals were happening nationwide and if they were being done in an equitable fashion.

Galster teamed with his father, George Galster, an emeritus professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University, to evaluate the environmental justice of dam removal.

"My father and I feel that it's important to recognize and analyze where we're doing these [dam removals] and where these resources are being spent because if we're spending that much to improve the local conditions around that dam, then who are the people that are living near that dam that are going to benefit the most?" said Galster.

They examined dam removals since 2010 and compared that information to a database of existing dams in the U.S. and demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau, broken down into four regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West.

Almost half of the dams removed since 2010 were in the Northeast, while the South had the fewest removed. Areas that had a dam removed had significantly larger populations of non-Hispanic white residents when compared to other areas with dams or to the nation as a whole.

"We found that really the racial gap in where dams are being removed is basically entirely being created by dams being removed in the South," said Galster.

Even controlling for the type of dam, whether it was shorter, older, made of earthen versus concrete material, they found that dams were still being disproportionately removed in the southern region from areas with a higher degree of white residents.

A potential complicating factor in dam removal is the variability in procedures based on the state in which the dam is located and who owns the dam. Dams can be owned by either the federal government, state or local governments, utility companies, private businesses, or individuals. States like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have led the way in dam removals, with some of the highest numbers of dams removed in the nation, while states like Oklahoma have only had one dam removed between 1912 and 2020.

"Dam removals are an important way to restore rivers, and we should keep doing them. However, we should also be aware of the larger picture of where those have been done and where we should do those in the future to make sure that everybody benefits from all of these resources that we are spending on dam removals, and so that we can make that group of people that benefits from them be more diverse," said Galster.

Galster will present this research on Sunday at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2021 annual meeting in Portland, OregonDam removal study reveals river resiliency

More information: Session 31: D23. Recent Advances in Quaternary Geology and GeomorphologyPaper 31-1: Dam removals and environmental justicehttps://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2021AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/369553Sunday, 10 Oct., 1:35–1:50 p.m.Oregon Convention Center Room D137

Provided by Geological Society of America 

Havana Syndrome or a Case for Eliminating the Implausible

Diplomats in Cuba fell ill. Some suspected a secret weapon. Five years later, a more benign explanation remains

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. | 

9 Oct 2021
Health and Nutrition

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

The story of Havana syndrome has acquired mythical qualities in its telling. In late 2016 and early 2017, members of the American embassy in Havana, Cuba, started to report debilitating symptoms and strange occurrences. An incapacitating sound, often coming from a single direction, was heard by some but not others, waking them up in the middle of the night. A sensation of intense pressure was felt in the ear. Vertigo and nausea were some of the early symptoms. Then came the difficulty concentrating, the memory problems, the sleep disturbances in some of the victims. Members of the Canadian embassy were eventually also struck by what was being called an “attack.” Secret sonic weapons and microwave beams were suspected and the story quickly morphed into a devilish espionage novel, with accusations levelled at Cuba, Russia, even China.

Like in a James Bond movie, one country was not enough: soon, similar symptoms began to be reported in Australia, China, Austria, even a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the park south of the White House. U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris’ trip to Vietnam was delayed earlier this year because of an “anomalous health incident” reported there that was strikingly similar to Havana syndrome. A superficial reading of nearly five years of media coverage of these globe-trotting incidents would have you believe an undetected secret weapon has been deployed all over the world and nobody quite knows what it is.

There are many layers to peel back when it comes to the reporting done on Havana syndrome and our first stop should be the name. Naming diseases and syndromes after places, whether in earnest or as a back-handed jibe, poisons the geographic well in people’s minds. The “Wuhan flu,” the “Indian variant of the coronavirus,” even the “Spanish flu” (which had nothing to do with Spain), these names can feed discrimination by demonizing a place and its peoples. But with Havana, unfortunately, I’m not aware of any geographically neutral name. Reports speak of “symptom clusters,” of “unexplained events,” of “anomalous health incidents,” none of which constitute unique nomenclature. So “Havana syndrome” it is for now.

When this ailment resisted easy answers, more and more eccentric explanations began to be considered. Some of them border on science fiction.

The man with the sonic gun

When the spectre of spies is raised, poisons come to mind. Could the diplomats affected by this Havana syndrome have had their food or water spiked or the air they breathe poisoned? Specifically, a study funded by the Canadian government zeroed in on neurotoxins from pesticides used in Cuba to combat the spread of Zika. The hiccup is that many of the people who lived with the victims and around them showed no symptoms. How could pesticides selectively affect dozens of American and Canadian diplomats but no Cubans, nor any non-diplomats working at those embassies? Or are we to believe that the widespread use of these pesticides did cause symptoms in many Cubans but that nobody has come forward, despite the Havana syndrome story making international news for years? Moreover, a report by the National Academies of Sciences states that the incident was not consistent with acute poisoning by the type of insecticide used in Havana, though it could not rule out chronic exposure as a contributing factor.

If poisons cannot give us solace in cracking this case, the alternatives move us from the quaint territory of Agatha Christie to the realm of speculative fiction. Because the perception of a sudden, loud sound and of pressure against the ear had been reported by many of the affected people, the idea of a covert sonic weapon was considered. Could this device emit infrasounds, meaning sound waves below the threshold of what we can hear (typically below 20 Hz)? Research into so-called sonic cannons has indeed been done, but it seems that their operators are as much at risk from their ill effects as the intended targets, and these effects are often more annoying than truly harmful. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the mythological “brown note,” a specific infrasound that is thought to trigger instant defecation. When the Mythbusters team was given license to test this claim using massive subwoofers specifically modified to play this note with enough vigour, the dreaded discharge did not take place. Even when projected at a deafening 128 decibels (in the range of a rock concert), the sound could not live up to its myth.

At the other end of the spectrum, above our hearing threshold of 20,000 Hz, we find another potential culprit: ultrasounds. Could the sound waves typically used to see a fetus during pregnancy be weaponized and cause, as has been suggested, damaging acoustic bubbles in the inner ear and brain? The problem is that ultrasounds need close contact to propagate well, hence the use of gel for pregnancy ultrasounds. Over long distances, sound gets weak. It can be easily blocked by walls. To focus a damaging beam of ultrasounds at someone inside a house, an attacker would likely need a gargantuan speaker with massive energy needs. That’s hard to square with the idea of a weapon that is both mobile and undetectable.

If the attack was unlikely to come from a sound wave, maybe it came from a light wave, specifically a microwave. Microwaves are lower in frequency than visible light and infrared, but above radio waves on the light spectrum. The U.S. military has conducted research into high-powered microwave weapons, but a 2012 feature article in the journal Nature summarized those fifty years of research as “wasted energy,” citing unreliability and the need for imposing pulse generators. When Cheryl Rofer debunked the microwave theory for Foreign Policy, she imagined a mobile microwave weapon outside a diplomat’s house and calculated that to power a simple microwave oven on the go, you would need a 2,200-watt gasoline-powered generator weighing around 50 pounds. To weaponize the beam, you might need another ten pounds or, alternatively, about 200 laptop computer batteries. Portability, if such a weapon even exists, becomes a real issue. Moreover, microwave weapons were often meant to attack equipment, not people, and no screwed-up electronics were reported in the vicinity of the victims of the Havana syndrome. Yet a strange phenomenon tied to microwaves has piqued the attention of investigators.

For your ears only

It’s called the Frey effect. In 1962, Allan H. Frey published a paper in which he described a situation in which microwaves, which are not sound waves, were heard by humans. His participants could hear these waves as coming from within or right behind their own head. The sound was described as being a buzz, clicking, hiss, or knocking. Ergo, Havana syndrome victims might have been zapped by a secret microwave weapon and the strange sound they heard was the buzzing noise of the Frey effect. But as Professor Kenneth Foster, who has studied the Frey effect, told The New York Times, “the sound would be so soft that near silence would be needed for a person to detect it.” With the hubbub of Cuba and the everyday noises of modern life, you’d have to crank up the power and end up frying the person’s skin in the process. The Frey effect as an explanation for Havana syndrome beggars belief. “You might as well say little green men from Mars were throwing darts of energy,” Foster concluded.

It may be hard to reconcile the improbability of a complex weapon or a simple poison with a State Department spokesperson declaring that “we have never seen this anyplace in the world before.” How could this syndrome be so new and unique and not have a new and unique cause? By appraising the papers published by the doctors who examined the people affected by Havana syndrome, some experts started to see differences between what had been claimed and what had been documented.

From crickets with love

Embassy staff and family members were seen by an ear, nose, and throat specialist at the University of Miami, who saw signs of an “immaculate concussion:” it looked like 16 people had signs of a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury but without the actual head injury. These 16 individuals were then sent to a brain injury centre at the University of Pennsylvania, along with eight additional cases that subsequently came forward. The paper that reported on their findings, published in JAMA, speaks to “injury to widespread brain networks.” All of this sounds both alarming and mysterious.

When a medical sociologist and a neurologist looked into this, however, the case for an unsolvable puzzle started to weaken. The JAMA paper assumes exposure to an “unknown energy source,” which was never demonstrated. So much for evidence. The injury to brain networks was actually only seen in three individuals; most had normal findings. The white matter changes seen in those three are apparently common in conditions like depression, migraine, and even aging. The threshold the authors used to declare an impairment was, according to the editor of the journal Cortex, “unheard of in clinical practice or research,” leading to just about anybody qualifying as such. As for the University of Miami findings, there was little overlap in symptoms from one diplomat to another, and their asymptomatic housemates, who presumably had been exposed to the same agent, were bizarrely not tested as a control group. Reports had also emerged of some diplomats losing their hearing because of this incident, but it turned out that only two had experienced hearing impairment, which predated their deployment to Cuba.

And that mysterious sound thought to be the Frey effect? Some diplomats managed to record it from inside their house (proving that, at least in those instances, the sound existed outside of their head), and scientists identified the loud noise as the song of lovelorn Indies short-tailed crickets. These crickets are known to experts to make quite the racket: you can hear them, one of them told The New York Times, “from inside a diesel truck going 40 miles an hour on the highway.” No wonder diplomats were stirred from their sleep and shaken by the loudness of this foreign sound, especially given the inherent stress of the situation they were in. Because the state of affairs they found themselves in was no picnic.

U.S.-Cuba relations have danced on a hair-trigger for decades. Bizarre assassination schemes were plotted, attempted, and abandoned by American agents to push Cuban president Fidel Castro out of the picture. These plans would hardly be believed if we saw them used in a movie, and some may have been fictional, intentionally leaked to distract from real machinations. One involved a poisoned cigar to create LSD-like symptoms so that Castro would make a spectacle of himself during a public speech. Another bet on his love of scuba diving to lead him to an exploding seashell. Meanwhile, a truly outlandish plan involved submarines firing projectiles designed for illumination to serve as a portent—perhaps the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—for the fall of the Communist regime, feeding into Cubans’ religious beliefs.

The Cuban intelligence community was also busy. They were harassing American diplomats by disrupting their sleep and deflating their tires. They would enter the diplomats’ homes, rearrange furniture, leave cigarette butts in ashtrays, and dump feces and urine on the floor. Family pets were poisoned. The psychological and physical stress of working at the U.S. embassy in Cuba was highlighted by a former official who worked there: “Cuba is considered a high-threat, high-stress post,” he told ProPublica. Diplomats are briefed: “Assume they are always watching.” The anticipation of a threat is constant, and these diplomats are part of a tight community with an active rumour mill. The U.S. embassy in Cuba had reopened in July 2015 as part of Obama’s rapprochement with the country. When Havana syndrome first manifested itself, Castro had just died and Trump had been elected. The pressure cooker was ready to burst. If something strange were to happen to one U.S. diplomat in Cuba, it could easily lead to a cascade of similar events.

And that is where we arrive at a plausible though maddening explanation.

Horses, zebras, and giraffes

There is a saying in medicine that when you hear hoofbeats behind you, expect a horse, not a zebra. It’s routinely taught to remind medical students that exotic diagnoses are rare; common explanations for symptoms should be considered first. Yet the human brain has a tendency to latch onto zebras (or giraffes) when horses might do.

By 2016, 165 residents living in the vicinity of a zoo in Devonshire, England, had signed a petition accusing the giraffes’ enclosure at the zoo of making them sick. How? The year before, biologists had reported that giraffes occasionally communicate with each other via barely audible hums or low-frequency sound waves. An investigation at the zoo, however, revealed no source of noise. Even the giraffe keepers at the zoo said they had never heard those hums before. But neighbours were sure they could hear a hum and it was coming from the giraffe enclosure.

In 1761, Ben Franklin invented a musical instrument made up of spinning glass discs called a glass armonica. Over the ensuing years, the instrument went from being perceived as a cure-all to being accused of provoking fainting spells, convulsions, even madness. Since then, new technologies like incandescent light bulbs and the telephone have inspired dread in some people. Reading under a light bulb would lead to blindness, went the rumour, and the strain of the telephone would surely cause excitability and giddiness in phone operators.

When constant stress leads to an obsessive anticipation of danger, the pressure cooker has to explode at some point. Common occurrences in life, like a sudden spell of persistent dizziness, can make us seek an external explanation. Something out there is making us sick. The anxiety itself can manifest in a multitude of physical ways. Social contagion spreads the syndrome to the members of our community.

These psychogenic effects—of the brain’s anxiety onto the rest of the body—are believed by a scientific board that reported to the State Department to have played an important role in explaining the diplomats’ injuries, and a medical sociologist and a neurologist wrote an entire book (summarized in this Conversation article) on Havana syndrome that explains it as a mass psychogenic illness. To be abundantly clear, mass psychogenic illnesses are not psychiatric disorders. Affected individuals are not lying. They are healthy and sane, but a perceived trigger leads to illness.

Crickets, dizziness, constant suspicion, all examined by medical specialists falling prey to confirmation bias, leading to debilitating symptoms blamed on extravagant weaponry, and we end up with Havana syndrome. At least, that seems to be the most plausible theory right now. We will never know for sure what truly happened, since thorough baseline data on the affected individuals does not exist to check for changes, and since testimonies were often gathered much later after symptoms started, putting recollections at risk of recall bias.

We’ve blamed witches, demons, telephones, and giraffes for the aches and pains of everyday life. The Havana syndrome saga may yet be another episode of this blame game. I really feel for the people affected, especially since their personal health is being scrutinized and speculated about under the microscope of media coverage. But I don’t think we can rule out the snowball effect of nonspecific symptoms in a high-stress situation with an active rumour mill. These mass suggestion events have punctuated humanity’s long history. Microwave weapons? Not so much.

Note: Havana syndrome is a topic brimming with interesting leads and factoids, too many to cram into a single article. If you are interested in a deeper dive on the topic, I recommend a couple of sources. The seven-episode season of the podcast Whatever Remains goes into David Bowie’s obsession with weaponized noise and a hustling reporter who might have been the first to suggest the term “sonic attack” in relation to Havana syndrome. Robert Baloh and Robert Bartholomew wrote a fantastic book called Havana syndrome: Mass psychogenic illness and the real story behind the embassy mystery and hysteria, in which they contextualize the syndrome in a history of acoustical scares, PTSD, and unwarranted accusations of state terrorism.

Take-home message:
-Havana syndrome is the informal name given to a varied group of nonspecific symptoms experienced first by American diplomats in Havana, Cuba starting in 2016, and later reported in other countries
-A number of possible explanations have been proposed over the years, from poisoning to exposure to insecticides to an attack using a sonic or microwave weapon
-The most likely explanation seems to be that Havana syndrome is a mass psychogenic illness, whereby naturally occurring symptoms like dizziness and headaches are interpreted as possible attacks due to a high-stress environment

@CrackedScience

Thousands march in Brussels to demand climate justice

Tens of thousands of people rally demanding bolder action in fighting climate change weeks ahead of the UN climate summit.

Since climate activist Greta Thunberg slammed climate ministers' empty words, “blah, blah, blah” has become a rallying cry on social media. [Yves Herman/Reuters]

10 Oct 2021

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Brussels to demand bolder action in fighting climate change at the United Nations climate summit starting later this month.

Dressed as endangered fish or tigers or wearing toy polar bears on their heads, demonstrators filled the streets of Belgium’s capital on Sunday, chanting slogans demanding climate justice and waving banners in multiple languages.
KEEP READINGScotland readies for COP26 spotlight as political tensions simmerThunberg leads climate protests in Italy ahead of COP26Religious leaders plead for rapid climate action at COP26

“Politicians die of old age, Rosa died of climate change,” said one banner referring to a 15-year-old who was swept away by Belgium’s Ourthe River in July, when Europe was battered by days of torrential rain and floods.

Rosa, 15, was one of the victims of climate change as Europe was battered by torrential rains this summer [Yves Herman/Reuters]

Thousands of people representing more than 80 organisations took part in the protest, the biggest such event in the de facto capital of the European Union since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Police estimated at least 25,000 marchers, while organisers placed the number at 70,000.

“After you’ve seen all the disasters we have seen this summer, it’s really crucial that we move now. Because everybody knows what the problem is,” Xavier De Wannemaeker, a protester with grassroots environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, told The Associated Press news agency.

Another demonstrator, Lucien Dewanaga, asked: “What do we do when we destroy the planet? We have nothing else. Human beings have to live in this world. And there is only one world.”

Environmentalists are worried the UN’s 26th climate change Conference of the Parties, commonly known as COP26, will formulate policies that will not go far enough as to significantly slash carbon emissions and slow the warming of the planet.

The 12-day summit, set to begin in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 31, will aim to secure more ambitious commitments to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial levels.

Police estimated at least 25,000 marchers, while organisers placed the number at 70,000 [Yves Herman/Reuters]

The youth are playing a central role in pressuring politicians to make commitments in advance of COP26. Young climate activists including 18-year-old Greta Thunberg attended a three-day Youth4Climate conference in Italy from September 28 to 30 to put forward their proposals.

Hundreds of young people led by the Swedish activist marched in Milan earlier this month hoping their demands are heard, including the phase-out of the fossil fuel industry by 2030.

Since Thunberg slammed climate ministers on the first day of the youth climate summit, criticising their inaction and empty talk, “blah, blah, blah” has become a rallying cry for climate justice activists on social media.

#KRAKEN #CRYPTID #CRYPTOZOOLOGY

Giant 'mystery creature' filmed by scientists exploring Red Sea shipwreck

Talk about a real-life Squid Game.

Amanda Kooser
Oct. 10, 2021 

This deep-sea animal surprised OceanX scientists when they spotted it 

on camera while investigating a shipwreck in the Red Sea.

Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

It's cool enough to find a shipwreck. It's even better to spot a massive, mysterious sea creature hanging out with the wreck. That's what happened to the crew of the OceanX OceanXplorer research vessel during an expedition in the Red Sea in late 2020.

A year later, OceanX is revealing more information about the remarkable animal that swam past its remote-vehicle camera as it examined the wreck of the passenger ship Pella at a depth of nearly 2,800 feet (850 meters).

Zoologist and squid expert Mike Vecchione studied the footage and suggested that despite its size, the animal was not an infamous "giant squid" due to its body proportions and shape of its fins. Vecchione identified it as a jumbo example of a purpleback flying squid.

An OceanX video posted on Wednesday shows the fast-moving animal and Vecchione's analysis.

OceanX science program lead Mattie Rodrigue described seeing the squid -- which she estimated was larger than a human being -- for the first time as it swam past the bow of the wreck. "I was frozen in absolute shock," she said.

The researchers spotted either the same squid or others like it during subsequent dives. Vecchione said they represent "the giant form" of the purpleback flying squid.

OceanX is focused on ocean research, exploration, outreach and protection. The Red Sea mission's goal was to answer the question: "How do species in the Red Sea thrive where others would die?" Researchers discovered large animals, like the squid, as well as sites with climate-change resistant corals.

While the creature Rodrigue observed wasn't a legendary giant squid, it was a stunning and unexpected sight. A true wonder of the deep.

Saskatchewan’s first utility-scale solar power project online

By Thomas Piller Global News
Posted October 8, 2021 

Located near Swift Current, the Highfield Solar Facility is generating enough renewable power for about 2,500 Saskatchewan homes. SaskPower / Supplied

The largest solar power project in Saskatchewan to date is now online.


The 10-megawatt (MW) Highfield Solar Facility can generate enough renewable power for roughly 2,500 homes, according to officials.

READ MORE: SaskPower announces 10 megawatt solar project, first in Sask.

Saturn Power won the bid to build the project. The Ontario-based energy developer will own and manage the site while selling SaskPower the electricity produced.

“It has been a great privilege for Saturn Power to be able to develop, construct and operate Saskatchewan’s first utility-scale PV solar project,” Saturn Power president and CEO Doug Wagner said in a statement on Friday.

“Through the hard work of our team and the collaborative relationships built and fostered with both SaskPower and miEnergy, we were able to build a project that will serve as a foundation in Saskatchewan’s efforts to develop a more sustainable and renewable power supply for decades to come.”


READ MORE: SaskPower says 50 per cent renewable capacity on track for 2030

Project partner SaskPower said Highfield is the first of four 10-MW solar power facilities set to be added to the province’s grid in the next two years.

“The commissioning of this facility is a landmark achievement for renewable power in Saskatchewan,” Minister Responsible for SaskPower Don Morgan said in a press release.

“SaskPower is set to exceed its emissions reduction targets, and renewables such as solar are an important part of a balanced approach that will allow our province to achieve net-zero emissions from power production by 2050.”

The Crown corporation added these facilities, along with 20 MW of generating capacity through the power generation partner program, will help meet its commitment to add 60 MW of solar power in the coming years.
2:05Canada aims to shift to electric vehicles by 2035Canada aims to shift to electric vehicles by 2035 – Jul 18, 2021

Highfield is Saskatchewan’s first utility-scale solar generation project and is located east of Swift Current.

Largest solar power facility opens in Sask.

SaskPower and Saturn Power announced that the 10-megawatt (MW) Highfield Solar Facility — the first utility-scale solar facility in the province is now online.

Author of the article:Regina Leader-Post
Publishing date:Oct 08, 2021 

SaskPower and Saturn Power announced at an event on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, that the 10-megawatt (MW) Highfield Solar Facility is now online.

 PHOTO BY PHOTO COURTESY OF SASKPOWER /jpg
Article content

The Swift Current area is now home to the largest solar power project in Saskatchewan.

At a news event Friday, SaskPower and Saturn Power announced that the 10-megawatt (MW) Highfield Solar Facility — the first utility-scale solar facility in the province — is now online. Located in the RM of Coulee, it is producing enough renewable power for about 2,500 Saskatchewan homes, according to SaskPower.

“The commissioning of this facility is a landmark achievement for renewable power in Saskatchewan,” said Minister Responsible for SaskPower Don Morgan in a news release.

“SaskPower is set to exceed its emissions reduction targets, and renewables such as solar are an important part of a balanced approach that will allow our province to achieve net-zero emissions from power production by 2050.”

Highfield is the first of four 10-MW solar power facilities that the province expects to add to the grid over the next two years. SaskPower says that in addition to the 20 MW of generating capacity through the Power Generation Partner Program, it will help the Crown corporation meet its commitment to add 60 MW of solar power in the coming years.

Saturn Power, an independent power producer based in Ontario, built the Highfield Solar facility. They will own and operate it while selling SaskPower the power produced. Saskatoon‐based miEnergy was selected by Saturn Power to serve as general contractor on the project.

“The Highfield Solar Facility is an important step in ensuring a cleaner and more sustainable power future,” said Kory Hayko, vice-president of transmission and industrial services at SaskPower.


Doug Wagner, Saturn’s president and CEO, lauded the project “as a foundation in Saskatchewan’s efforts to develop a more sustainable and renewable power supply for decades to come.”

Located in the RM of Coulee the Highfield Solar Facility is producing enough renewable power for about 2,500 Saskatchewan homes, according to SaskPower. 

PHOTO BY PHOTO COURTESY OF SASKPOWER /jpg

 Saskatchewan

Most Sask. residents believe climate change human-caused but fewer willing to act: survey

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CHASR survey finds younger urban residents are more

willing to take action than older rural residents

Pratyush Dayal · CBC News · Posted: Oct 11, 2021 6:00 AM CT |

A dump truck works near the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near Fort McMurray, Alta., in June 2014. A new survey in Saskatchewan found about 73 per cent of respondents agree the provincial government should take action to address climate change, but when asked how soon fossil fuels should be phased out, the most common answer was 'never.' (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

A new survey has found a strong majority of respondents in Saskatchewan acknowledge climate change as a reality, but fewer are willing to partake in efforts to combat climate change.

The survey, conducted by the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR) at the University of Saskatchewan as part of a partnership with CBC, took responses by phone from 402 Saskatchewan residents between Sept. 3 and Sept. 20 on questions around climate change.

The survey found that 73 per cent of respondents believe that people are responsible for accelerating climate change.

Almost two-thirds of respondents (64 per cent) said they believe the extreme weather Saskatchewan experienced this past summer was a result of climate change. Just under a quarter disagreed while close to 13 per cent said they did not know.

• If you think this summer was hotter than normal, you're right

• Three Sask. communities had their hottest July on record this year

About 73 per cent also agreed that the provincial government should take action to address climate change. 

The data also shows "a number of core differences by age and by region of the province," said CHASR director Jason Disano.

Younger respondents were more likely than older respondents to agree that individuals are responsible for climate change, he said. In the 18-34 age group, 80 per cent agreed.

Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research director Jason Disano says the survey revealed a general trend of younger urban individuals being more willing to take action to fight climate change than older rural respondents. (Submitted by Jason Disano)

Disano said the survey suggests differences in terms of region.

"We do see a general trend in terms of younger urban individuals being more likely to accept climate change and the science behind it, and more willing to accept different measures to combat climate change, versus older rural respondents."

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.89 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Lack of personal responsibility 

The survey found there is a "portion of the population who actually do believe climate change is real and that humans are accelerating climate change" who "aren't necessarily willing or interested in taking it upon themselves to do individual actions to address climate change," Disano said. 

Asked about what behaviours they would be willing to engage in to reduce climate change, 46 per cent said they were unwilling to pay a carbon tax.

Disano said it's likely many are not aware that they are already paying the carbon tax.

He also said Saskatchewan's resource-dependent economy likely factors into some of the regional geographic differences the data revealed. 

For example, about 44 per cent of respondents overall said they were unwilling to reduce their meat consumption. But that unwillingness was stronger in rural respondents (50 per cent) than urban (38 per cent).

• Canadians are among the world's worst carbon emitters. Here's what we can do about it

• Most nations, including Canada, fall far short in plans to curb climate change, report finds

Saskatoon's Micheal Heimlick — a program evaluator at Two Bridges Consulting who drives an electric car and has turned vegetarian — said he thinks the survey results show Saskatchewan heading into right direction, but at too slow a pace.

"If you believe in something, you have to take action on it, but that's not necessarily what we're seeing in the differences in some of the daily things like reducing meat consumption, car and air travel," he said.

Micheal Heimlick, a father of a five-month-old daughter, says the survey shows Saskatchewan heading into right direction but at a slow pace. He says he's considering a move to New Zealand due to Canada's inaction on climate change. (Submitted by Micheal Heimlick)

The survey found that 37 per cent of respondents were unwilling to reduce car travel and 25 per cent unwilling to reduce air travel. In both cases, rural populations were more unwilling.

"It's more difficult, I would argue, for reduced car travel in rural areas as technology — electric cars, for example — is more likely to come to urban centres first," Heimlick said.

For example, Heimlick said he couldn't visit his wife's hometown in rural Saskatchewan in their electric vehicle due to a lack of charging infrastructure.

The cost of technology also becomes a barrier in rural Saskatchewan, he said, especially when there are no provincial subsidies for electric vehicles available.

The survey also revealed resistance to composting and energy-efficiency home retrofits, which Heimlick said could be easily addressed by policy interventions and education.

"The onus falls on the provincial government to step up and acknowledge climate change as a problem, which they have been starting to do, but [also to] offer people ways to adjust the problem and model that behaviour at the provincial level," Heimlick said.

Fossil fuel phaseout 'has to happen'

When asked when the government should phase out fossil fuels, the most commonly selected response in the survey was "never" — the answer given by around 28 per cent of respondents overall. Just under 16 per cent said within five years, and about 15 per cent said within 20.

However, there was a wide divide on the "never" response between rural respondents (42 per cent) and urban (15 per cent).

• Climate change expert calls on Regina to work toward 'just transition' to renewable energy

• Majority of Canadians want climate plan that keeps regional economies strong, poll suggests

Rene Stock, an economist in Saskatoon, says change in the energy sector is needed.

"There is no future if we keep adding fuel to the fire. Coal is way dirtier than any nuclear plant in the country," said Stock.

The 68-year-old said many older people think they have outlived the catastrophes and neglect problems that climate change has started to pose, such as heat domes.

"I have eight grandchildren. When my oldest one, who was born in 2010, will make it 19 years, there will be a good chance that [the] South and North Saskatchewan rivers won't have glaciers feeding them," Stock said.

• Why the North Saskatchewan River has gone from brown to blue

Stock has had conversations with older groups around carbon taxation and says many are misinformed due to the poor messaging from the provincial government.

"We have to keep talking about the frequency and intensity of climate events. I'd say the younger folks are more aware and they are the answer," Stock said.

Sehjal Bhargava, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Saskatchewan, concurs with the sentiment. 

Bhargava said while humans are in the anthropocene — the name for an unofficial unit of geologic time marked by the significant impact of human activity on the planet — it is encouraging to see young people like Swedish activist Greta Thunberg take the lead. 

"Fossil fuel phaseout isn't an option, it's something that has to happen," Bhargava said.

"I believe action has less to do with individuals, but rather creating public opinion and public pressure to change policies that are going to be directed towards combating climate change."

Sehjal Bhargava says young people should exercise their voting power to elect leaders who will act on climate change. (Tayyaba Bhatti)

There is an urgent need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry and start supporting a just transition for oil and gas workers into provincially and federally funded renewable energy projects, Bhargava said.

Youth should also educate themselves and exercise their voting power, she said.

• Climate change action the deciding factor for some Sask. voters this federal election

• Federal environment minister calls on Sask. to take climate change seriously

"I've been told by politicians that they don't understand the urgency and that there's nothing they can do about it because government action is slow. Young people want action," she said.

"The more young people that get involved to use their voice, the better."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pratyush Dayal

Reporter

Pratyush Dayal is a reporter with CBC Saskatoon. He has previously written for the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, the Province and the Tyee. He holds a Master of Journalism degree from UBC and can be reached at pratyush.dayal@cbc.ca Twitter: @Pratyush_Dayal_

ANCIENT FOREST PROTECTORS

Fairy Creek protesters say they will carry on despite reinstating of injunction


Jeff Bell / Times Colonist
OCTOBER 9, 2021 

A bus and sign are shown near the Eden blockade in the Fairy Creek area near Port Renfrew, B.C., on May, 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jen Osborne

Fairy Creek protesters say they are undeterred by a B.C. Court of Appeal decision to reinstate an injunction against them.

Protesters have been trying to block old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek area, near Port Renfrew, since August 2020. Court hearings have been told that protesters have set up barriers to block forestry workers and their equipment.

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Kathleen Code, a member of the Rainforest Flying Squad protest group.

Friday’s decision follows a Sept. 28 B.C. Supreme Court ruling that an injunction against the protesters’ blockades, granted to forestry company Teal Jones on April 1, wouldn’t be extended. That ruling said RCMP enforcement had led to serious infringement of civil liberties.

Code said the protesters are “incredibly disappointed” and had been optimistic after the Sept. 28 court outcome.

“We had a glimmer of hope,” she said.

Code said it seems a private contract that benefits a lone business “is far more important than the rights of citizens.”

“It’s an incredible setback for us but we’ve consulted with Elder Bill [Jones] and he is determined that we should stay on,” she said. “We are still staying and we will still stay and protect the trees.

“We’re not going anywhere.”

Bill Jones is a member of the Pacheedaht First Nation who supports the protesters’ efforts.

Teal Jones said in a statement that it had disagreed with Supreme Court decision ruling on not extending the injunction and went ahead with the appeal.

“To do otherwise would be to allow anarchy to reign over civil society and for misinformation campaigns to win over fact,” the company said. “The blockaders have been flouting both the stated wishes of the local First Nations and the well-reasoned court injunction, while engaging in dangerous and illegal activity and spreading misinformation through sophisticated and well-financed campaigns.”

Employees and contractors have borne the brunt of an escalation of behaviour by protesters, the statement said.

“Activists have sprung out of the bush naked and run at fallers actively working with a saw in an effort to startle them. They have dug trenches across public roads. They have vandalized equipment.”

“All Canadian workers deserve a safe workplace free from such harassment.”

Saul Arbess, another Rainforest Flying Squad member, said there is further legal action to take.

“We’re looking forward now to the actual leave to appeal,” he said. “We’re looking forward to much greater elaboration that happens with the appeals court.”

Arbess said protesters have been able to pay for lawyers through fundraising. “We have raised money separately from the Rainforest Flying Squad as the Elders for Ancient Trees, and we have so far been able to support our lawyers.”

He said the situation always comes back to “government inaction.”

A fair and dance to support the protest effort took place Friday at Fisherman’s Wharf Park. Near Fairy Creek, a “Return to Eldership” 24-hour sit-in began at noon Saturday.

People taking part were urged to prepare for rain and to “bring 1,000 friends.”

“We’re calling all land defenders to come spend some time with us this weekend in the trees and at camp,” said a message from protesters.

Code said it is hard to estimate how many people are staying around Fairy Creek, since the number of encampments changes and more people are in the area on weekends.

Protesters said there have been 1,088 arrests so far.

jbell@timescolonist.com

SPACE WEATHER

Geomagnetic storm warning as solar flare expected to directly hit Earth today

An alert was published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which warned the geomagnetic storm could cause power grid fluctuations with voltage alarms at higher latitudes, where the Earth is more exposed.

Alexander Martin
Technology reporter @AlexMartin
Monday 11 October 2021

Solar flares are capable of creating magnetic storms impacting electronics on Earth

A massive solar flare is due to hit Earth today, authorities are warning - potentially disrupting power grids and bringing the Northern Lights as far south as New York.

The flare - officially known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) - was observed on Saturday on the side of the sun directly facing our planet and comes as we enter a period of increased solar activity.

An alert was published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which warned the geomagnetic storm could cause power grid fluctuations with voltage alarms at higher latitudes, where the Earth is more exposed.

COBRA: Could power on Earth really be wiped out by a solar storm?

NOAA added that satellites may be impacted too and could exhibit "orientation irregularities" meaning ground control would have to redirect them, as well as anything in low-Earth orbit experiencing increased drag.

The geomagnetic storm could reach category G2, which is moderately strong according to the agency.

"Event analysis and model output suggest CME arrival around midday on 11 Oct, with lingering effects persisting into 12 Oct," it added, with midday in the US meaning late afternoon and early evening in the UK.

The Met Office said: "Aurora is possible through [the] 11th across much of Scotland, although cloud amounts are increasing, meaning sightings are unlikely.


"There is a slight chance of aurora reaching the far north of England and Northern Ireland tonight, but cloud breaks and therefore sightings are more likely in Northern Ireland," it added.

But astronomers do not expect the flare to cause major disruption as per the Carrington Event, believed to be the largest solar storm ever recorded, which hit Earth in 1859.

The Carrington Event left an aurora visible across the sky, even in latitudes much closer to the equator, and was described in contemporary reports as even brighter than the light of a full moon.

NOAA issued a geomagnetic storm alert

It caused the failure of telegraph systems all across Europe and North America, and a similar storm today could cause trillions of dollars in damage globally.

Solar activity has been observed rising and falling naturally every 11 years, although not quite like clockwork, and astronomers believe we are now in the early years of a new busy period.

A new family of sunspots, discovered on the surface of our star last year, unleashed the biggest solar flare that scientists have seen since 2017.

Solar flares are massive ejections of material from the sun - and one is heading directly for Earth. File pic: NASA

There are a number of classes of solar flares, with X-class being considered the most intense. Saturday's CME was a M-class event, the second strongest behind X.

It is known as a "Halo CME", as flares that are heading directly for Earth can be observed as a halo around the sun.

NFLD

Hotspot of ocean biodiversity discovered off coast of Makkovik, thanks to fisherman

Collaboration between fish harvester and scientists leads to underwater find

Jane Adey · CBC News · Posted: Oct 11, 2021

Joey Angnatok, centre, pulled up his nets a few years ago from an underwater mound to find corals, sponges and other sea life. (Rodd Laing)

Researchers have discovered what they're calling an underwater hotspot of biodiversity off the coast of Makkovik, but say without the local knowledge of a fisherman, they may have never known lies beneath the surface of an unexplored part of the Labrador Sea.

It all began a few years ago. Joey Angnatok, a fish harvester from Nain, was fishing for turbot in the area about 50 kilometres offshore when things went awry.

Angnatok said he and his crew had put out roughly 400 fathoms — about 700 metres — of gear, but when they went to haul their nets, they found half that length floating at the surface.

"We went to take it back and it was... hooked up on something on the bottom. It was like a mound of some sort," Angnatok said.

Angnatok made a note on his chart to never fish in that area again, but his damaged nets revealed an abundance of sea life.

"We did see corals, and sponges and everything, that was stuck to this mound on the bottom. And it was safe to say that it was at least 150 to 200 fathoms in height," said Angnatok.

Angnatok knew the coral find was likely significant. In the ocean, corals act similarly to trees, providing vital habitat for other animals to feed and rest and hide from predators.

Dave Cote is a research scientist who studies unexplored areas of the Labrador Sea. 

(Submitted by Dave Cote )

An underwater mystery

It wasn't long before the story of the mysterious underwater mound reached the ears of research scientists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in St. John's, where Angnatok's description fuelled a lot of excitement about a potential discovery in the ocean near Makkovik.

David Cote, a DFO ecologist who studies largely unexplored areas of the Labrador Sea, said researchers had been partnering with the Nunatsiavut government to study areas off Labrador's north coast, and attempted to find the mound in the summer of 2020.

But the pandemic marred those attempts aboard the icebreaker and research vessel CCGS Amundsen.

A remotely operated vehicle researchers had hoped to use wasn't ready, and to adhere to physical distancing rules, there were fewer scientists on board.

But, based on Angnatok's coordinates, the researchers were able to do significant habitat mapping with equipment already on board the Amundsen.

"We looked really hard, and we were pretty disappointed that we didn't find anything because we knew Joey knows his stuff. And there was something there, but we just couldn't pinpoint it within the area," said Cote.



Research scientists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada used an remotely operated vehicle to capture these images of a hotspot of ocean life in the Labrador Sea near Makkovik. 0:27

This past July, Cote and other researchers returned aboard the CCGS Amundsen, this time armed with a brand new ROV.

After three days of exploration in the area they had mapped the year prior, the ROV beamed up never-before-seen video from the depths of the Labrador Sea.

"We were really excited to come across this 200-metre cliff, which is about the height of a 60-storey building. And on this cliff were these beautiful hanging gardens of pinky-orange corals, called primnoa, that were hanging off it, mixed with a bunch of sponges," said Cote.

The moment the tower of deep sea corals came into view on TV screens up on deck has stuck with Barbara Neves, a cold water coral research scientist with DFO.

"We saw one individual, one specimen, and then we started to see more and more and more, and then you begin screaming and you have a bunch of scientists that are very excited, and the ROV pilot is trying to stay focused. So yeah, it was quite exciting," said Neves.

Barbara Neves, a research scientist with DFO, specializing in cold water corals, holds a primnoa, or 'popcorn' coral that is common in the waters off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. (Jane Adey/CBC)

This type of primnoa coral is commonly known as "popcorn" coral. The species is common in waters around Newfoundland and Labrador, said Neves.

The tree-like animals can grow up to two metres tall and live for hundreds of years.

While the coral is common, Neves said what is notable about this underwater cliff is the density of the corals living there.

"It's telling us that this is a highly suitable location for them to grow. They are thriving there," she said.

"But it's also in terms of the diversity itself, and all the different animals that are living around them and what they might be doing in the whole system where they live."
Undersea unknowns

The fact that this hot spot was discovered so close to Makkovik underlines how little researchers know about the Labrador Sea, Neves said.

It's highly likely there are other significant regions of biodiversity nearby, said Cote, and this discovery is just one of more they hope will come in the future.

"It was pretty rewarding to see all this come together, this local knowledge and all the latest technology. And we needed every bit of it to be able to find the specific coral hotspots," said Cote.

"It just tells us that we need to listen. Right? We need to talk with people and put that together with the other information that we may have," said Barbara Neves.

Primnoa corals can live for hundreds of years in the ocean. Researchers can determine their age and growth rate by counting the rings in the cross section of a coral.

 (Jane Adey/CBC)

As for fisherman, Joey Angnatok, he's glad his experience on the water led to this focused exploration of the Labrador Sea and that scientists were eager to listen to what he had to say.

"I guess when it comes to knowledge, I always like to say that everything is 50-50. I mean, the information I have is just the same as what you have. So put the two together, it usually comes up with good results."