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By Mark Brooks, on March 7, 2013, at 12:27 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-march7-2013.mp3
Ever wondered where your water comes from and where your wastewater goes? How much garbage do we produce in Ottawa and where does it go? What did the city look like a couple hundred years ago? Where does the gas come from that fills up our tanks? How much of our food is produced locally?
On this week’s edition of Earthgauge, we’ll discuss all this and more with Janice Ashworth. She helped put together a handy little booklet called ‘The Ecology of Ottawa‘ and she’ll be joining me for a feature 2-part interview.
Also on the (Read more…)
By Mark Brooks, on February 15, 2013, at 12:16 am
Download: earthgauge-podcast-feb14-2013.mp3
This week on Earthgauge, I present a feature interview with the Ottawa Riverkeeper, Meredith Brown and we talk climate science with Eric Galbraith of McGill University. Click the audio player above or right click here to download the show.
First up….it’s Climate Change 101! Ever want to know about some of the fundamentals of climate science so you can easily refute that climate change denying buddy of yours? Well, we have a Climate Change 101 session with Eric Galbraith of McGill University. He is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Science and he’ll explain just
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Earthgauge Radio February 14 2013: Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown and Climate Science 101
By Mark Brooks, on February 13, 2013, at 10:25 pm This Thursday on Earthgauge Radio, I’m pleased to present a feature interview with the Ottawa Riverkeeper, Meredith Brown. We’ll discuss the health of the Ottawa River, changes to federal environmental regulations, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival and the Ottawa River Action Plan.
We’ll also talk with Dr. Eric Galbraith (I promise!) of McGill University who will give us a primer on the science of climate change. Everything you ever wanted to know about the basics of climate science, but were afraid to ask.
Earthgauge Radio airs Thursday mornings from 7-8 AM on CKCU 93.1 in Ottawa.
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: This week on EG Radio: Feature interview with the Ottawa Riverkeeper, Meredith Brown
By Mark Brooks, on February 7, 2013, at 1:28 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-feb7-2013.mp3
This week on Earthgauge Radio, we’re talking about the Shell drilling rig that ran aground near Alaska’s Kodiak Island at the end of December and we discuss the City of Ottawa’s “Liveable Ottawa” plan. We also have a special guest editorial from Grist.org columnist David Roberts who will explain why climate science is Nate Silver and U.S. politics is Karl Rove.
It was bad enough that Shell demonstrated total ineptitude when their Kullik oil rig started leaking crude oil into the Alaskan wilderness but as Rachel Maddow of MSNBC tells us, this story just keeps
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: EG Radio February 7 2012: Liveable Ottawa | Shell oil rig Alaskan disaster
By Mark Brooks, on January 31, 2013, at 9:37 am
Download: earthgauge-podcast-jan31-2013.mp3
This week on Earthgauge Radio, we’re talking about President Obama’s new commitment to climate change, the growing problem of environmental “refugees”, and the environmental dimensions of the Idle No More aboriginal movement. We have 3 interviews on today’s show:
Lisa Friedman, Deputy Editor of ClimateWire Stephen Hazell, environmental lawyer and the founder of Ecovision Law John Smol, biology professor at Queen’s University and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change
U.S. President Barack Obama’s inaugural address last week gave special prominence to taking action on climate change. Will this translate into concrete action and what does this
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: EG Radio January 31 2013: Obama and climate change | Lisa Friedman | Idle No More
By Mark Brooks, on December 21, 2012, at 3:45 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-dec20-2012.mp3
This week on Earthgauge Radio, I have a feature interview with Aiden Enns of BuyNothingChristmas.org. We discuss some ideas about how you can have a “greener” and less stressful holiday season. I also have an update from NDP MP Fin Donnelly on his private member’s Bill C-380 to ban the import of shark fins to Canada.
Click the audio player above to stream the show or right click here to download.
Part 1 – Fin Donnelly on his efforts to ban the import of shark fins to Canada
One year ago Fin Donnelly, the NDP MP for
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: December 20, 2012: Buy Nothing Christmas and the shark fin import ban in Canada
By Mark Brooks, on December 20, 2012, at 10:34 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-dec20-2012.mp3
This week on Earthgauge Radio, I have a feature interview with Aiden Enns of BuyNothingChristmas.org and we discuss some ideas about how you can have a “greener” and less stressful holiday season. I also have an update from NDP MP Fin Donnelly on his private member’s Bill C-380 to ban the import of shark fins to Canada.
Click the audio player above to stream the show or right click here to download.
Part 1 – Fin Donnelly on his efforts to ban the import of shark fins to Canada
Download: fin-donnelly-c380-edited.mp3
One year ago Fin Donnelly,
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: December 20, 2012: Buy Nothing Christmas and the shark fin import ban in Canada
By Mark Brooks, on December 19, 2012, at 7:30 pm Tomorrow on Earthgauge Radio, it’s our second annual holiday special program. As you probably know, huge amounts of waste are produced during the holiday season – more than any other time of year. In addition, a lot of people find the holidays incredibly stressful. The pressure to buy gifts, social commitments, preparing meals and family expectations can make many people dread the holidays. So we’re going to talk with Aiden Enns tomorrow who is part of a national initiative called Buy Nothing Christmas, which is dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas. These folks are saying no to overconsumption and they invite everyone with
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Tomorrow on Earthgauge Radio: Canadian shark fin import ban and dreaming of a green Christmas
By Mark Brooks, on December 13, 2012, at 3:47 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-dec13-20122.mp3
This week on Earthgauge Radio, we’re talking about environmental health and ocean acidification. I have two interviews on the program today:
Dr. James Brophy, co-author of a groundbreaking new study demonstrating that women working in particular occupations have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, likely due to exposure to toxic chemicals and environmental pollutants Dr. Robert Rangeley of the World Wildlife Fund of Canada who will explain why the rapid acidification of the word’s oceans threatens many forms of marine life and may even endanger the oceanic food chain
Click the audio player above to stream the show or
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Earthgauge Radio December 13 2012: Cancer in the workplace and the crisis of ocean acidification
By Mark Brooks, on December 12, 2012, at 9:42 pm Tomorrow on Earthgauge Radio, I am pleased to present a feature interview with Dr. James Brophy, who is the co-author of a groundbreaking new study demonstrating that women working in particular occupations have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Their research found that women employed in the automotive plastics industry, for instance, were almost five times as likely to develop breast cancer, prior to menopause, as women in the control group. The research results have created quite a stir in the cancer research community and our discussion tomorrow is not to be missed!
We’ll also have an interview from
. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: On Earthgauge Radio tomorrow: Getting cancer at work and the ticking timebomb of ocean acidification
By Mark Brooks, on December 4, 2012, at 12:04 pm Click the audio player to hear my interview with John Bennett, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada, about the federal government’s proposed changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Bennett explains why so many people and organizations, including the musicians Sarah Harmer, Gord Downie and Feist as well as Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown and Mountain Equipment Co-op, [...] . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Interview with John Bennett of the Sierra Club
By Mark Brooks, on November 1, 2012, at 2:11 pm In his much-anticipated report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon in B.C., former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen took aim at the federal government Wednesday. He said he was “troubled” by recent amendments to the environmental process and the Fisheries Act by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.
“Many experts have emphasized the importance of protecting fish habitat, promoting biodiversity and adopting ecosystem-based management practices,” said Cohen.
“However, the recent amendments to the Fisheries Act appear to be taking (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) in a very different direction.”
Saying it was . . . → Read More: earthgauge: Cohen Commission final report into B.C. salmon decline released
By Mark Brooks, on October 11, 2012, at 8:57 am Continuing Earthgauge’s past coverage of the campaign to ban shark finning, Reuters is reporting that Costa Rica is the latest country to ban the practice, which involves catching sharks, slicing off their fins and throwing them back in the ocean to die.
As always with such bans, it remains to be seen whether the enforcement of the law can keep pace with the high demand (and high prices) for the fins, which are in high demand in Asian countries including China and Japan where shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
Read more: World Environment News – Costa Rica passes
By Mark Brooks, on October 10, 2012, at 11:08 am New research is showing that Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s largest, is in steep decline, with half of the reef vanishing in the past 27 years. And the culprit? You guessed it. It seems our unending addiction to burning carbon is playing a big role. There are local impacts that are damaging the Reef, such as excessive nutrient run-off from agriculture, but changing ocean acidity and coral bleaching from rising ocean temperatures (due to climate change) are also wreaking havoc.
“This is a really grim wake-up call,” said John Bruno, a biologist at UNC Chapel Hill.
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Great Barrier Reef Has Seen Major Decline In Past 3 Decades
By Mark Brooks, on September 27, 2012, at 3:45 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-sept27-2012.mp3
On this week’s edition of Earthgauge Radio, we’re talking about the astonishing summer melt of Arctic sea ice and we check in with the Chair of the City of Ottawa Environment Committee. I have 3 interviews on today’s show:
Peter Wadhams, professor of Ocean Physics and Head of the Polar Oceans Physics Group at the University of Cambridge in the UK Clive Tesar, Head of Communications for the Global Arctic Programme at the World Wildlife Fund Maria McRae, Ottawa City Councilor and Chair of the Environment Committee
Click the audio player above or right click here to
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Earthgauge Radio September 27, 2012: Disappearing Arctic sea ice and Ottawa’s Environment Committee Chair Maria McRae
By Mark Brooks, on September 18, 2012, at 10:26 pm Did you know that coral reefs are home to fully 25% of the world’s marine life? Me neither. This latest report on the state of the world’s coral reefs would have been bad enough in its own right. Seems, once again, that climate change is a major culprit.
Here’s an excerpt from HuffPo…
“The chance to save the world’s coral reefs from damage caused by climate change is dwindling as man-made greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, scientists said in a study released on Sunday.
Around 70 percent of corals are expected to suffer from long-term degradation by 2030, even
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Climate Change: Coral Reefs Expected To Suffer Greatly, Study Finds
By Mark Brooks, on September 14, 2012, at 10:29 pm
Download: earthgauge-podcast-sept13-2012-northerngateway.mp3
I’m excited to be back at CKCU to kick off the second season of Earthgauge Radio! On this the September 13 edition of the program, we hear a couple of interviews live from the frontlines of the Northern Gateway pipeline struggle in B.C. On the show today:
Art Sterritt – Executive Director for the Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative
Download: art-sterritt-edited-forair1.mp3
Rafe Mair – former BC Cabinet Minister and popular radio talk show host
Download: rafemair-edited-forair1.mp3
I visited British Columbia a couple weeks ago and had the opportunity to speak with a number of individuals who are actively engaged
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Earthgauge Radio September 13, 2012: From the frontlines of the Northern Gateway pipeline struggle
By Mark Brooks, on September 7, 2012, at 11:23 am “Scientists say this year’s record declines in Arctic sea ice extent and volume are powerful evidence that the giant cap of ice at the top of the planet is on a trajectory to largely disappear in summer within a decade or two, with profound global consequences.
“This extreme melting offers dramatic evidence, many scientists say, that the region’s sea ice has passed a tipping point and that sometime in the next decade or two the North Pole will be largely ice-free in summer.”
For more info, check out this article on the Environmental News Network: Climate Change News: Arctic
By Mark Brooks, on September 1, 2012, at 1:50 pm The Vancouver Sun is reporting today that, according to an independent analysis by three professional engineers, the Enbridge Northern Gateway proposal to ship oil sands bitumen from Kitimat along the B.C. coast carries an unacceptable risk of a significant spill.
The engineers concluded that there is a 73-per-cent chance that at least one tanker accident involving tar sands bitumen or natural gas will occur during a 50-year operational lifetime.
The analysis concludes: “This is clearly an unacceptable risk.”
The analysis has been formally filed with the federal Joint Review Panel investigating the $6-billion Northern Gateway proposal.
Read more
By Mark Brooks, on July 25, 2012, at 4:06 pm Just to brighten your day a little more, check out this astonishing article from the NY Times on the state of the world’s coral reefs. It ain’t pretty. The article is written by an ecologist in Australia where the world’s largest reef, the Great Barrier, is experiencing unprecedented declines in coral productivity due to climate change and ocean acidification. Here’s an excerpt:
It’s past time to tell the truth about the state of the world’s coral reefs, the nurseries of tropical coastal fish stocks. They have become zombie ecosystems, neither dead nor truly alive in any functional sense, and on
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: A World Without Coral Reefs – NYTimes.com
By Mark Brooks, on June 21, 2012, at 10:06 pm What on Earth is going on at the Rio +20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro? Well, this article might provide some indication. If you had low expectations for the so-called Sustainable Development Summit, you’re not alone. Here’s an excerpt from the article that tells you just about everything you need to know:
“We were promised the ‘future we want’ but are now being presented with a ‘common vision’ of a polluter’s charter that will cook the planet, empty the oceans and wreck the rain forests,“ the head of Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo, said. “This is not a foundation on which to
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Will UN Summit on Sustainable Development make anyone happy?
By Mark Brooks, on June 7, 2012, at 9:32 am
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On Earthgauge Radio this week, we’re taking a look at the state of the global environment and we talk to the founder of the Ottawa-based organization One Change. We hear a recent speech to the United Nations by the esteemed economist Jeffrey Sachs who offers a dire warning in the lead up to the Rio +20 Earth Summit and we review recent sobering scientific reports on the state of the oceans and on progress toward meeting international environmental goals.
Earthgauge Radio is broadcast every other Thursday morning at 7:00-8:00 AM on CKCU 93.1 FM in
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Earthgauge Radio June 7, 2012: State of the Global Environment
By Mark Brooks, on June 6, 2012, at 1:27 pm
The following is a guest post from WorldOceansDay.org. This is an important event and deserves our attention so I am reposting it on Earthgauge.
World Oceans Day, the UN-designated day for the global community to celebrate and take action for our shared ocean. This year, take a moment to make change on two little-known but all-important issues: global warming and ocean acidification.
Carbon emissions from human activity are changing the Earth’s climate, leading to rising sea levels, and contributing to more frequent and intense extreme weather events that directly threaten every one of us–no matter whether we live
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: June 8 is World Oceans Day
By Mark Brooks, on June 2, 2012, at 8:41 pm Four former ministers of Fisheries and Oceans – from both Progressive Conservative and Liberal governments – took the extraordinary step of writing an open letter to “Prime Minister” Stephen Harper this week. They expressed their deep concern over the changes to Fisheries regulations in the omnibus Budget Implementation Bill C-38, stating:
“There is genuine public concern over the perceived threat this legislation poses to the health of Canada’s environment and in particular to the well-being of its fisheries resources. We are especially alarmed about any possible diminution of the statutory protection of fish habitat, which we feel could result if
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: An unprecedented letter to PM Harper from former Fisheries Ministers
By Mark Brooks, on May 31, 2012, at 9:35 am
Download: earthgaugeradio-podcast-may31-2012-sharkconservation.mp3 //< ![CDATA[ jQuery(document).on( 'ready as-script-load', function($) { if ( typeof window.audioshortcode != 'undefined' ) { audioshortcode.prep( '2858_1', ['http://earthgauge.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/earthgaugeradio-podcast-may31-2012-sharkconservation.mp3'], ['Track #1'], 0.6, false ); } } ); //]]>
On Earthgauge Radio this week, we’re taking a look at shark conservation and the Ottawa bike festival called Capital Velo Fest. The award-winning film Sharkwater will be screened this Tuesday, June 5 at 7:00PM at the Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa (a CKCU co-presentation) I have three interviews for you on today’s show:
Gabriel Wildgen, a campaigner with Humane Society International Rob Stewart, photographer and director of the film Sharkwater Dick Louch from Capital Velo Fest
Earthgauge Radio is broadcast every other Thursday morning at 7:00-8:00 AM on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa. Click the audio
. . . → Read More: earthgauge: Earthgauge Radio May 31 2012: Shark conservation and Capital Velo Fest
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