Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

If you thought your relationships were complicated, try being an acacia
tree; or an ant, or a large herbivore. Nature, it turns out, is full of
complicated relationships. And we mess with them at our peril.

Recently, I wrote about one such complex relationship – between
large primates and large-seeded tropical fruit trees. It turns out that
many such trees rely on large primates to distribute their seeds
through the forest. When the primates are killed off through hunting or
habitat loss, the trees suffer too, making the primates’ comeback even
more difficult.

Continue reading “Big herbivores keep ants and trees together”

Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

Welcome to 2008. If you had told me at the beginning of last year that
2007 would be the breakout year for the environment, I probably
wouldn’t have believed you. Yes, 2006 had An Inconvenient Truth, but
2007 saw the environment become a true media darling.

As
great as this has been, we mustn’t forget that news is a fickle beast
and, by definition, “new” doesn’t last very long. That means we need to
keep the interest moving forward or we could lose the momentum we’ve
built up.

Continue reading “Green is in. Let’s keep it there”

Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

We know that our planet is heating up. And we know that international
climate negotiations like the ones that are winding down in Bali this
week are critical steps towards a global action plan to reduce
heat-trapping greenhouse gases. But how will we be able to gauge if
such a plan actually works?

Continue reading “Getting to know our planet”

Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

Do you remember the old axiom “think globally, act locally”? These
words are truer today than ever before, especially when applied to
Canada’s battle against climate change. To see real action on climate
change in Canada and the U.S., it is best to look at what is taking
place at the municipal and provincial levels in both countries.

Continue reading “Pot Kettle Black”

Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

Global warming is becoming the Paris Hilton of environmental stories.
Every time you pick up a paper or turn on the television, if there’s a
story remotely related to the environment, global warming will somehow
be implicated.

Continue reading “Finally, something not caused by global warming”

If actually cutting greenhouse gas emissions isn’t going very well (largely due to incessant foot dragging by politicians), how about coming up with some new technology or chemical to put up into the atmosphere to help neutralize global warming?

Continue reading “Talking about the unthinkable”

We’ve probably all heard the urban legend about the unsuspecting shopper who takes home a bunch of bananas from the supermarket, only to have a tarantula later crawl out and terrorize the family. Well, new research shows that there could be some truth to the story.

Continue reading “Global trade brings unwanted visitors”

Ever read the newspaper and get the eerie feeling that you’ve entered the Twilight Zone?
I’ve been getting that feeling a lot recently. Here’s the source of my current frustration: Scientists’ warnings about the threats that global warming pose to nature, human health and the world economy have never been more acute, more specific or more worrisome.

Continue reading “Leaders need a serious reality check”

With so many bad news stories about the environment in the media, it’s nice to hear about good news for a change – especially when it relates to international cooperation.

Continue reading “Birds do better when neighbours cooperate”

I’ve been called pond scum before, but never before has it been quite so accurate.
Researchers have discovered a new species of fly in the wet tropical rainforests of Costa Rica and Panama. They named the fly Dixella suzukii – after me. That’s right, no great whale or fierce jungle cat for this fella. I’ve been immortalized as a fly. A pond-scum sucking fly at that.

Continue reading “New species gets funny name”

Most people alive today were born after 1950. To these people, our modern world is just the way things have always been. Imagining life without TV, radio, telephones and the Internet is next to impossible. Teenagers probably have a hard time imagining life without text messaging!

Continue reading “Human hormones mess with male fish”

Recently a column appeared in my local Vancouver Sun newspaper about the trend of eating locally grown food. The author … Continue reading How much is a tomato worth?