The Ocean* is the largest of Earth’s systems that stabilizes climate and supports life and human wellbeing. Despite its vital role in our ecosystem, the Ocean has been gravely degraded and historically underrepresented within international climate change agreements. However, the tide is changing.
Severe weather in 2022 caused $3.1 billion in insured damage – making it the 3rd worst year for insured damage in Canadian history. Kathryn Bakos of the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation discusses the recently tabled Bill 56, which addresses the need to prevent residential basement flooding – the most financially costly climate disaster impacting Ontario.
What are the costs of climate change-related weather events in Canada?
Small isolated wetlands that are full for only part of the year are often the first to be removed for development or agriculture, but a new study shows that they can be twice as effective in protecting downstream lake or river ecosystems than if they were connected to them.
Using a new method involving satellite imagery and computer modelling, researchers from the University of Waterloo found that since these small wetlands are disconnected, pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorous get trapped. This is the first study to use satellite data for estimating nutrient retention.
A new study published today in Nature is changing our understanding of chemical reactions and overturning previous theoretical models by finding an unexpected resonance frequency during the reaction of two molecules.
Resonance is when one object vibrating at the same natural frequency as a second object forces that second object into vibrational motion.
This ground-breaking finding is the first time a resonance has been observed between two ultracold molecules and is a stepping-stone for researchers to learn about and control the molecules that comprise our universe.
Thursday, February 2 marks World Wetlands Day, an international government agreement acknowledging the importance of wetlands and their ecological role in conserving our ecosystems.
“Wetlands are these climate change superheroes,” says Dr. Rebecca Rooney, a wetland ecologist and professor in the Department of Biology. “Wetlands are a portfolio of ecosystem services: including flood prevention, breaking down pesticides, storing large amounts of carbon, and provide habitat for more than 32 per cent of Ontario species at risk who rely on these wetlands to mitigate climate change.”
In the Canadian academic landscape, scholar, artist, and professor, Dr. Naila Keleta-Mae (Communication Arts) is a visionary. Her Black And Free Project explores Black expressive culture through various mediums — and this year, Keleta-Mae’s work is going beyond academia and being brought to life for the public. A series of events, classes, and exhibits are planned which explore the themes inherent in her multi-year research-creation project on blackness and freedom.
Having levels of potassium that are too high or too low can be fatal. A new mathematical model sheds light on the often mysterious ways the body regulates this important electrolyte.
Potassium, a common mineral abundant in food like bananas and leafy greens, is essential to normal cellular function. It helps the cardiac muscle work correctly and aids in the transmission of electrical signals within cells.
University of Waterloo biologists, in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Toronto, are working on a North American pilot program that uses moths as a management tool to control an invasive plant threatening Canadian wetlands.
“We’re one of the first 13 sites in North America to trial insect-based biocontrol for invasive phragmites,” says Dr. Rebecca Rooney. “This offers hope for chemical-free invasive phragmites control.”
The Quantum Horizons: Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research and Innovation for Nuclear Science award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Physics has enabled a new collaboration between researchers who develop technologies for nuclear physics, quantum information science and high-energy physics.
While continuing to avoid direct engagement in Russia's war on Ukraine, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have dramatically expanded their military assistance. Dr. Alexander Lanoszka of the University of Waterloo is an expert on military alliances. He recently co-authored a study that examines the political and military implications of NATO's partial yet growing commitment to Ukraine.