Science & Environment

[spaminator]

Sand from Sahara Desert causing recent lull in hurricane season: scientists
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Michael MacDonald
Published Jul 31, 2024 • 3 minute read

HALIFAX — Tiny grains of sand from the Sahara Desert are to blame for the almost month-long lull in this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, scientists say.


But it could soon come to an end.

Every June and July, there is a peak in the amount of dust from the North African desert that is lifted high above the North Atlantic by strong winds, disrupting the formation of tropical storms.

This annual phenomenon, known as the Sahara Air Layer (SAL), hurled an unusually large amount of sand into the upper atmosphere earlier this month, according to NASA.

“You can see it in the atmosphere, moving from Africa westward across the Atlantic,” says Chris Fogarty, manager of the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S. “Hurricanes are not likely to form when you’ve got a lot of this dry air from the desert in it.”

The dry air prevents the buildup of tall clouds that are needed to form a hurricane. As well, the SAL creates a temperature inversion, which means a layer of warm air remains over colder air, causing clouds to spread out rather than rise to form thunderstorms. And the strong winds that carry the layer along causes wind shear, which can tear storms apart.


Only three named storms have formed over the Atlantic since hurricane season started on June 1 — tropical storms Alberto and Chris, and hurricane Beryl, which on July 2 became the earliest Category 5 hurricane to be recorded over the Atlantic.


On July 11, post-tropical remnants from Beryl were blamed for dumping more than 100 millimetres of rain on Wolfville, N.S., where a 13-year-old boy died when he was overwhelmed by floodwaters in a drainage ditch. That deadly event served as a telling reminder of what tropical storms are capable of, but the weather over the Atlantic has been noticeably quiet since then.

Fogarty, however, said hurricane season is sure to pick up in the weeks ahead, with the peak of the season typically arriving in the first few weeks of September.


“Whenever there’s a period of quiet activity in the atmosphere, whether it’s tropical storms or winter storms, usually that means there’s energy building up somewhere in the ocean atmosphere system,” he said, adding that with no strong winds stirring up the Atlantic, its surface temperatures will continue to rise — a key source of energy for hurricanes.

Fogarty said now is the time for people in Eastern Canada to prepare for strong winds, heavy rain and storm surges. “It’s been quiet for a period and you can be lulled into complacency,” he said. “Let’s not wait until these storms are in the news.”

In late May, the Canadian Hurricane Centre predicted an active hurricane season fuelled by record high ocean temperatures.


At the time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States predicted 17 to 25 named storms with eight to 13 of those becoming hurricanes, and four to seven becoming major hurricanes.

Typically, about 35 per cent of the storms that form in the Atlantic Basin travel to Canadian waters, but in any given year that average can vary wildly.

Last year, American forecasters called for 12 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and one to four major hurricanes; in reality, there were 20 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Five of those storms entered Canadian waters, but little damage was reported. Post-tropical storm Lee, the only storm worthy of note, downed trees and caused some storm surge damage and power outages along the southern coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Sand from Sahara Desert causing recent lull in hurricane season: scientists

Tiny grains of sand from the Sahara Desert are to blame for the almost month-long lull in this year's Atlantic hurricane season

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Man runs over moving ground to narrowly escape landslide along B.C. river: Rescuer
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Jul 31, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read

A landslide along a river in British Columbia's central Interior has injured a man and prompted the Cariboo Regional District to issue evacuation orders due to "immediate danger to life and safety" caused by flooding triggered by the slide.
A landslide along a river in British Columbia's central Interior has injured a man and prompted the Cariboo Regional District to issue evacuation orders due to "immediate danger to life and safety" caused by flooding triggered by the slide.
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. — A man camping along the Chilcotin River in British Columbia’s central Interior woke up to the sound of a landslide overnight Tuesday and managed to run to safety as the ground moved beneath his feet.


Debra Bortolussi with Central Cariboo Search and Rescue said the man told rescuers the next morning that he had set up camp with his dog during a rafting trip, when he heard sounds of the slide at around midnight and started running.

“It genuinely seems like a miracle that he did not get caught in it,” Bortolussi said in an interview following Wednesday’s rescue operation.

“It directly came down overtop of where he was,” she said. “His tent, his raft, everything was taken out by the landslide itself.”

The man’s dog is missing, but Bortolussi said rescuers are hopeful they might find it because he had yelled at the dog to follow him during the escape.

The landslide is blocking the river, and the Cariboo Regional District issued evacuation orders spanning 107 kilometres along the river due to “immediate danger to life and safety” caused by flooding as the waterway backs up.


A statement from the regional district said 12 homes are covered under the evacuation orders with an estimated 13 residents.

The district also declared a state of local emergency Wednesday, telling residents to gather their families and take anyone else who may need help to get out.

Along with a flood warning for the Chilcotin River upstream of the landslide in the vicinity of Farwell Canyon, the province’s River Forecast Centre issued watches for the river downstream of the slide as well as for the Fraser River from the Chilcotin River confluence downstream to Hope, B.C.

The forecasting centre also issued a high streamflow advisory for the Fraser River downstream of Hope.

A statement Wednesday from the provincial government said personnel from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship are on the ground conducting assessments.


It said aerial support from the BC Wildfire Service is assisting with assessments and “further geotechnical assessments are underway to determine the level of risk downstream.”

The province said several helicopters were dispatched to assist with search and rescue efforts in the area.

Bortolussi shared a video and photos taken from a helicopter showing muddy-looking water pooling behind a mass of soil and trees blocking the river.

“It appears to be essentially the entire side of the riverbank and the small, kind of like mountain cliffside there sloughed into the river,” she said.

Bortolussi said the rescued man sustained lower-body injuries during his escape, and he’s in stable condition after spending the night atop the slide area.


She said the man wasn’t carrying an emergency communications device, but a local resident spotted him and made the call at about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

The rescue involved landing a helicopter near the slide site, allowing two rescuers to hike down to the man and carry him back to the aircraft on a stretcher.

Bortolussi said the search and rescue team is on standby as the landslide continues blocking the river, which is a popular rafting route.

“There’s potential we might still have more rescues of individuals even just stranded on the river now that it’s dried up, or (potentially) more injuries,” she said.

The nearby Tsilhqot’in First Nation shared a statement saying it has activated its emergency operations centre to help those who need assistance.

Man runs over moving ground to narrowly escape landslide along B.C. river: Rescuer

A man camping along the Chilcotin River in B.C.'s central Interior managed to run to safety as the ground moved beneath his feet.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Water behind B.C. landslide is more likely to move over top than burst: Minister
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Aug 02, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 5 minute read

A landslide along the Chilcotin River near Williams Lake, B.C. is shown in this Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 handout photo. The chief of Williams Lake First Nation says a landslide of debris that has dammed the Chilcotin River in British Columbia's central Interior has nearly doubled in size since Wednesday.
A landslide along the Chilcotin River near Williams Lake, B.C. is shown in this Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 handout photo. The chief of Williams Lake First Nation says a landslide of debris that has dammed the Chilcotin River in British Columbia's central Interior has nearly doubled in size since Wednesday. Photo by Willie Sellars /The Canadian Press
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. — Current modelling shows water from a vast lake forming behind a landslide that has dammed the Chilcotin River is more likely to go over the top than burst through in a sudden release, British Columbia’s minister of emergency management said Friday.


Bowinn Ma said the impacts downstream could still be significant depending on the distribution of the overtopping flow, and people along the Chilcotin and the connecting Fraser River may need to leave the area on short notice.

“We continue to plan for worst case scenarios,” she said.

The minister said there’s no timeline on when the water will start flowing, and “current modelling” shows that overtopping of the dam is more likely than a sudden break.

A statement Friday from the B.C. River Forecast Centre said the worst case scenario — if the dam were to rapidly collapse — would cause flows “well above” typical spring runoff along the Chilcotin River from the landslide site to the Fraser confluence.

It says water would be below typical spring runoff peak levels along the Fraser River south to Hope, about 500 kilometres away.


The forecast centre’s modelling suggests that in the event of a sudden failure, it would take 29 hours for water and debris from the dam to reach the Fraser River at Hope.

“There will be time to alert people at risk along the way if they must evacuate,” Ma said.

Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation said Friday that there’s not a lot that can be done other than “sit and wait” for the landslide to clear.

Alphonse said a slide that dammed the river two decades ago burst in about four days, but this latest slide is “a lot larger than it was last time.”

“This is not really anything new for us,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do.”

Alphonse said there’s not much use in worrying about what may happen, other than hoping people don’t get too close to the water should it rapidly rise after the debris clears.


The slide came down early Wednesday, blocking the Chilcotin, which is a tributary of the Fraser River that flows all the way down to Metro Vancouver into the ocean. The Chilcotin is also part of Canada’s largest sockeye run.

Alphonse said a salmon run expected late next week has already likely been affected and “that run is now in jeopardy and that’s very concerning for us.”

“We should have a fishery going on right now,” he said. “We are dependent on salmon runs for healthy living. That’s the main source of food for our people.”

Chief Francis Laceese of the Tl’esqox First Nation, part of the Tsilhqot’in government, said in a video posted to social media that “our salmon are the strongest that come up the Fraser River.”


“They’re born at the highest altitude, the coldest water. So, that makes them a strong, strong species,” he said.

He said slides in the past have seen the river eventually go back to normal and the fish that use the Chilcotin “have to go through a lot to make it back in the four-year life cycle,” including surviving sport and commercial fisheries on their way back to their spawning grounds.

For Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake Indian Band, the uncertainty of how the landslide will give way is a key concern.

Sellars flew over the slide in a helicopter two days in a row and said the water behind the dam doubled in size from Wednesday to Thursday and it continues to build.

“And it’s eventually going to get to this place where it starts overtopping the slide. And, you know, all the experts in all the calls and the feedback that we continue to hear is, is nobody really knows what is going to happen.”


The scenarios set out for the dam include it releasing all at once, or the water could trickle through, or the lake behind the dam will top the slide and allow the river flow to resume, he said.

“But there is this massive body of water that is building on the one side of that slide. And it’s scary,” he said.

“It’s hard to describe in words how massive this slide is, and how devastating it is.”

Connie Chapman with the B.C. government’s water management branch said the lake behind the dam has grown to 11 kilometres long, and a new estimate of the size of the blockage is about 1,000 metres long, 600 metres wide and 30 metres deep.

Chapman said the debris includes burned material from past wildfires, fine silt, clays and glacial sediment, which she said is “more susceptible to erosion and movement than rock within the river.”


Water and Land Minister Nathan Cullen said the area has been hit with landslides in the past in 2004 and in 1964, both of which broke up naturally.

He said there are concerns about impending salmon runs expected in the next one to two weeks, but reports about the slides in the past indicate that the fish are “incredibly adaptable species, particularly to these natural occurring events.”

He said warm water is also a concern for the salmon, and they are working with federal fisheries officials and First Nations on ways they can help fish in case of any blockages.

“We’re paying very, very close attention to not only stream flow, but also temperatures,” Cullen said.

Ma said it’s “imperative” for people along the river and downstream from the slide to have a go-bag ready in case of an evacuation, but officials are hopeful it doesn’t come to that.

“The best case scenario is that nature runs its course in a soft and gentle manner and naturally clears the blockage, and that this is done in a slow enough way that debris does not carry itself down the river and create more erosion along the way,” she said.

One man camping along the river was awoken by the slide and ran for his life. He was rescued by search and rescue crews and later treated for a broken leg, but his dog disappeared.

A statement from the Cariboo Regional District on Friday said that the dog, named Seko, has been found and is in the process of being reunited with its family.

Water behind B.C. landslide is more likely to move over top than burst: Minister

Modelling shows water from a vast lake forming behind a landslide that has dammed a B.C. river is more likely to go over the top than burst.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Gen X, millennials at higher risk for developing 17 cancers: Report
Author of the article:Eddie Chau
Published Aug 05, 2024 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 1 minute read

Generation Xers and millennials have even more reasons to worry about their health.


A report published in Lancet Public Health suggests that American Gen Xers and millennials are at higher risk of developing 17 cancers compared to older generations.

The 17 cancers are: colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, pancreas, myeloma, non-cardia gastric, testicular, leukemia, gastric cardia, small intestine, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, ovarian, liver cancer in women, non-HPV associated oral and throat cancers in women, anus cancer in men, and Kaposi sarcoma.

Researchers from the American Cancer Society calculated the generational cancer rates based on 23.6 million cases and 7.3 million deaths between 2000 and 2019.

The researchers found that the incident rate for cancers such as those of the small intestine, pancreas and kidney was two to three times higher for people born in the early 1990s when compared to infants in the 1950s.


Furthermore, women born in the late 1950s fared better than their millennial counterparts when it came to liver, oral and throat cancers caused by factors besides human papillomavirus, said the New York Post.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Hyuna Sung, of the American Cancer Society, said the findings “add to growing evidence of increased cancer risk in post-baby boomer generations, expanding on previous findings of early-onset colorectal cancer and a few obesity-associated cancers to encompass a broader range of cancer types.”

ACS researchers stated 10 of the 17 cancers at high risk for Gen Xers and millennials are obesity-related. They said they don’t have a clear reasoning for why the rates are rising.

Gen X, millennials at higher risk for 17 cancers: ‘critical’ report

Here’s another reason for a midlife crisis.

nypost.com

Gen X, millennials at higher risk for developing 17 cancers: Report

Generation Xers and millennials have even more reasons to worry about their health.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

B.C. LANDSLIDE: Evacuation order north of where Chilcotin and Fraser rivers merge
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Aug 05, 2024 • 1 minute read

A clogged area of the Chilcotin River is shown in an Aug. 2, 2024, handout photo. Evacuation orders have been issued for residents close to an imposing landslide in British Columbia's Chilcotin River.
A clogged area of the Chilcotin River is shown in an Aug. 2, 2024, handout photo. Evacuation orders have been issued for residents close to an imposing landslide in British Columbia's Chilcotin River. Photo by HO /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Authorities in British Columbia have issued an evacuation order for an area just north of where the Chilcotin River meets the Fraser River because of the danger of flooding caused by a landslide.


In a news release Sunday night, officials with the Cariboo Regional District say residents must leave immediately and that people who choose to stay do so at their own risk.

The evacuation order covers 3.5 square kilometres.

A massive landslide last week at Farwell Canyon located about 22 kilometres south of Williams Lake dammed the Chilcotin River and created a lake about 11 kilometres long behind the slide.

On Sunday, British Columbia’s Emergency Management Department said water is expected to start moving over the top of the massive landslide site within hours.

The department urged people to stay away from the Chilcotin and Fraser rivers because of the threat from the landslide.

The River Forecast Centre issued flood warnings for the Chilcotin River upstream and downstream of the landslide near Farwell Canyon.

A flood watch is in effect for the Fraser River from the Chilcotin River confluence downstream to Hope, B.C.

B.C. LANDSLIDE: Evacuation order north of where Chilcotin and Fraser rivers merge

The evacuation order covers 3.5 square kilometres.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Fossils suggest even smaller ‘hobbits’ roamed an Indonesian island 700,000 years ago
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adithi Ramakrishnan
Published Aug 06, 2024 • 1 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years ago on an Indonesian island, scientists discovered fossils of an early human species that stood at about 3 1/2 feet (1.07 meters) tall — earning them the nickname “hobbits.”


Now a new study suggests ancestors of the hobbits were even slightly shorter.

“We did not expect that we would find smaller individuals from such an old site,” study co-author Yousuke Kaifu of the University of Tokyo said in an email.

The original hobbit fossils date back to between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. The new fossils were excavated at a site called Mata Menge, about 45 miles from the cave where the first hobbit remains were uncovered.

080624-Hobbit-Fossils
This image provided by the University of Tokyo shows the Mata Menge humerus fragment, left, at the same scale as the humerus of Homo floresiensis from the Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia. Photo by Yousuke Kaifu /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 2016, researchers suspected the earlier relatives could be shorter than the hobbits after studying a jawbone and teeth collected from the new site. Further analysis of a tiny arm bone fragment and teeth suggests the ancestors were a mere 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) shorter and existed 700,000 years ago.


“They’ve convincingly shown that these were very small individuals,” said Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State University who was not involved with the research.

The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers have debated how the hobbits — named Homo floresiensis after the remote Indonesian island of Flores — evolved to be so small and where they fall in the human evolutionary story. They’re thought to be among the last early human species to go extinct.

Scientists don’t yet know whether the hobbits shrank from an earlier, taller human species called Homo erectus that lived in the area, or from an even more primitive human predecessor. More research — and fossils — are needed to pin down the hobbits’ place in human evolution, said Matt Tocheri, an anthropologist at Canada’s Lakehead University.

“This question remains unanswered and will continue to be a focus of research for some time to come,” Tocheri, who was not involved with the research, said in an email.

Fossils suggest even smaller ‘hobbits’ roamed an Indonesian island 700,000 years ago

Now a new study suggests ancestors of the hobbits were even slightly shorter.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

The fact that the island is named "The Shire" shoulda tipped 'em off.

 

[spaminator]

Hydraulic water system may be answer to how Egyptian pyramids were built
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Aug 07, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

To quote the line from the old ballad, You Belong to Me: “See the pyramids along the Nile …”


But ever wonder how they got there?

A new study, which appeared in Plos One — a journal published by the Public Library of Science — on Monday, aims to answer the age-old question of how the Great Pyramids came to be built thousands of years ago, reported the New York Post.

According to researchers, it could all come down to one thing: Water.

The study puts forth the theory that Egyptians used water power to construct the pyramids.

The researchers say, in particular, The Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was built some 4,500 years ago, may have been constructed with a water-powered hydraulic lift system.

Previously, theories abounded that the Step Pyramid came to be after ancient Egyptians used a system of ramps and levers to give the structure its height.


But the new research suggests the builders used nearby canals for their construction, much like Egyptians did to irrigate their crops.


“Ancient Egyptians are famous for their pioneering and mastery of hydraulics through canals for irrigation purposes and barges to transport huge stones,” the researchers wrote.

“This work opens a new line of research: The use of hydraulic force to erect the massive structures built by Pharaohs.”

The new study theorizes that ancient Egyptians used pressurized water to float the pyramid’s stones toward its upper levels through an internal shaft in a process known as “volcano” construction.

Researchers said they found evidence the Step Pyramid had a water filtration and hydraulic system that cleaned water from nearby canals and determined its flow for practical use.

“We have uncovered a possible explanation for how the pyramids were built involving hydraulic force,” the report said. “The internal architecture of the Step Pyramid is consistent with a hydraulic elevation device never reported before.”

The researchers are now working to understand how such a water lift system might have worked.

Hydraulic water system may be answer to how Egyptian pyramids were built

A new study, published in Plos One, says a hydraulic water system could have built the Great Pyramids thousands of years ago.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Popular artificial sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease: Study
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Aug 08, 2024 • Last updated 23 hours ago • 2 minute read

Consuming foods containing erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener that’s also used in keto diet products, increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a new study.


Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that erythritol made platelets in the blood of healthy people more active, which can raise the risk of blood clots.

“This research raises some concerns that a standard serving of an erythritol-sweetened food or beverage may acutely stimulate a direct clot-forming effect,” said study co-author W. H. Wilson Tang, research director for Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

“Erythritol and other sugar alcohols that are commonly used as sugar substitutes should be evaluated for potential long-term health effects especially when such effects are not seen with glucose itself,” Tang added.

Erythritol is a popular low-calorie replacement for table sugar and is added to sugar substitutes marketed as “natural” alternatives to sugar in stevia and monk fruit sweeteners.


It’s about 70% as sweet as sugar and is produced through fermenting corn.

However, erythritol is poorly metabolized by the body and can accumulate.


The sweetener is among Health Canada’s list of permitted sweeteners. Last year, the agency authorized an expanded use of erythritol in granola and other ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and coatings.

The study was published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and was part of series of investigations on the physiological effects of common sugar substitutes at the Cleveland Clinic.

“Many professional societies and clinicians routinely recommend that people at high cardiovascular risk — those with obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome — consume foods that contain sugar substitutes rather than sugar,” said lead study author Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.


“These findings underscore the importance of further long-term clinical studies to assess the cardiovascular safety of erythritol and other sugar substitutes,” Hazen said.


The study was conducted on healthy adults and compared those who consumed an erythritol dose to those who those who consumed sugar.

“What is remarkable is that in every single subject, every measure of platelet responsiveness (clotting) went up following the erythritol ingestion,” Hazen told CNN.

Comparatively, another group of 10 people who consumed a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in their bodies, Hazen said.

A previous study by the clinic looked at the sugar substitute xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol like erythritol, and found that it produced similar increases in plasma levels and affected platelet aggregation in healthy volunteers.


The study’s authors say further clinical studies assessing the long-term cardiovascular safety of erythritol are warranted.

“I feel that choosing sugar-sweetened treats occasionally and in small amounts would be preferable to consuming drinks and foods sweetened with these sugar alcohols, especially for people at elevated risk of thrombosis such as those with heart disease, diabetes or metabolic syndrome,” Hazen said.

http://cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/erythritol-blood-clotting-wellness/index.html

http://ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.124.321019

Cleveland Clinic study adds to increasing evidence that sugar substitute erythritol raises cardiovascular risk

New Cleveland Clinic research shows that consuming foods with erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener, increases risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. The findings, from a new intervention study in healthy volunteers, show erythritol made platelets (a type of blood...

eurekalert.org

Popular artificial sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease: Study

Consuming foods containing the artificial sweetener erythritol increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study finds.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

RCMP start interviewing witnesses in Greenbelt probe: Ford’s office
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Allison Jones
Published Aug 09, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office says the RCMP has started interviewing witnesses in its investigation into the government's decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development. An Ontario Greenbelt sign is shownsurrounded by farm land near Caledon, Ont., on October 12, 2023.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office says the RCMP has started interviewing witnesses in its investigation into the government's decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development. An Ontario Greenbelt sign is shownsurrounded by farm land near Caledon, Ont., on October 12, 2023.
The RCMP has started interviewing witnesses in its investigation into the government’s decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office said Friday.


Ford has previously said he is confident nothing criminal took place, but following a significant public outcry the premier reversed course and returned all parcels of land in question to the Greenbelt and promised not to touch it again.

The RCMP’s “sensitive and internal investigations” unit began a Greenbelt probe in October, and the premier’s office now says interviews are underway. The Mounties have not asked for an interview with Ford, his office said.

Ford, speaking at an unrelated announcement in Thunder Bay, Ont., said his government is co-operating with the investigation.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said. “Come in and do whatever you have to do … let’s get going on it.”

Reports from both the auditor general and the integrity commissioner found that the government’s process to remove 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes favoured certain developers.


The auditor general found that more than 90 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt was in five sites passed on to then-housing minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff by two developers he met at an industry event. The property owners stood to see their land value rise by $8.3 billion, the auditor found.

The integrity commissioner found that Clark violated ethics rules, but said that he had no evidence of developers being specifically tipped off that the government was considering Greenbelt removals. However, Wake said, “it is more likely than not” that someone gave one developer a head’s up.

Largely, the actions of Clark’s chief of staff had the effect of alerting developers that a policy change was afoot, the commissioner found.

Clark resigned from cabinet shortly after that report was released, but spent less than a year in the political penalty box, as Ford named him the new government house leader, a prominent but non-cabinet position, in June.

Ontario created the Greenbelt in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development.

RCMP start interviewing witnesses in Greenbelt probe: Ford’s office

Ford has said he and his government will co-operate with the investigation.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Cannabis use linked to higher risk of head and neck cancers: Study
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Aug 09, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

One-third of cannabis users still buy from the black market despite the legalization of pot in Canada in 2018, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Cannabis use is linked to a higher risk of head and neck cancers, according to a University of Southern California study.


People with cannabis dependence, known as cannabis use disorder, are 3.5 to 5 times more likely to develop head and neck cancer than those who do not use the substance, researchers found in a study published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) includes cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oropharynx (tongue and tonsils and back wall of the throat) and adjacent salivary glands.

“This is one of the first studies — and the largest that we know of to date — to associate head and neck cancer with cannabis use,” said Dr. Niels Kokot, a head and neck surgeon at Keck Medicine of USC and senior author of the study. “The detection of this risk factor is important because head and neck cancer may be preventable once people know which behaviours increase their risk.”


Researchers in California searched 20 years of data through a health research network of 64 health-care organizations and looked at medical records for U.S. adults with and without cannabis-related disorder who had recorded outpatient hospital clinic visits and no prior history of HNC.

The group of with cannabis-related disorder included 116, 076 individuals, while the non–cannabis-related disorder group included 3, 985,286 individuals.

They tracked cancer cases from one to five years of cannabis use.



Researchers found those with cannabis use disorder had higher rates of all types of head and neck cancers, and that the prevalence of the cancer in that group was independent of other factors, such as age, gender and ethnicity.

The researchers believe cannabis use may increase the risk of HNC because it’s primarily consumed through inhalation, and they believe smoking pot may prove to be more hazardous than cigarettes.

“Cannabis smoking is typically unfiltered and involves deeper inhalation compared to tobacco,” Kokot said. “Additionally, cannabis burns at a higher temperature than tobacco, increasing the risk of cancer-causing inflammation.”

Cannabis Use and Head and Neck Cancer

This cohort study examines the clinical association between cannabis use and head and neck cancer.

jamanetwork.com

Cannabis use linked to higher risk of head and neck cancers: Study

Cannabis use is linked to a higher risk of head and neck cancers, according to a University of Southern Califonia study.

torontosun.com

 

[Dixie Cup]

Popular artificial sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease: Study
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Aug 08, 2024 • Last updated 23 hours ago • 2 minute read

Consuming foods containing erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener that’s also used in keto diet products, increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a new study.


Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that erythritol made platelets in the blood of healthy people more active, which can raise the risk of blood clots.

“This research raises some concerns that a standard serving of an erythritol-sweetened food or beverage may acutely stimulate a direct clot-forming effect,” said study co-author W. H. Wilson Tang, research director for Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

“Erythritol and other sugar alcohols that are commonly used as sugar substitutes should be evaluated for potential long-term health effects especially when such effects are not seen with glucose itself,” Tang added.

Erythritol is a popular low-calorie replacement for table sugar and is added to sugar substitutes marketed as “natural” alternatives to sugar in stevia and monk fruit sweeteners.


It’s about 70% as sweet as sugar and is produced through fermenting corn.

However, erythritol is poorly metabolized by the body and can accumulate.


The sweetener is among Health Canada’s list of permitted sweeteners. Last year, the agency authorized an expanded use of erythritol in granola and other ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and coatings.

The study was published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and was part of series of investigations on the physiological effects of common sugar substitutes at the Cleveland Clinic.

“Many professional societies and clinicians routinely recommend that people at high cardiovascular risk — those with obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome — consume foods that contain sugar substitutes rather than sugar,” said lead study author Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.


“These findings underscore the importance of further long-term clinical studies to assess the cardiovascular safety of erythritol and other sugar substitutes,” Hazen said.


The study was conducted on healthy adults and compared those who consumed an erythritol dose to those who those who consumed sugar.

“What is remarkable is that in every single subject, every measure of platelet responsiveness (clotting) went up following the erythritol ingestion,” Hazen told CNN.

Comparatively, another group of 10 people who consumed a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in their bodies, Hazen said.

A previous study by the clinic looked at the sugar substitute xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol like erythritol, and found that it produced similar increases in plasma levels and affected platelet aggregation in healthy volunteers.


The study’s authors say further clinical studies assessing the long-term cardiovascular safety of erythritol are warranted.

“I feel that choosing sugar-sweetened treats occasionally and in small amounts would be preferable to consuming drinks and foods sweetened with these sugar alcohols, especially for people at elevated risk of thrombosis such as those with heart disease, diabetes or metabolic syndrome,” Hazen said.

http://cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/erythritol-blood-clotting-wellness/index.html

http://ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.124.321019

Cleveland Clinic study adds to increasing evidence that sugar substitute erythritol raises cardiovascular risk

New Cleveland Clinic research shows that consuming foods with erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener, increases risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. The findings, from a new intervention study in healthy volunteers, show erythritol made platelets (a type of blood...

eurekalert.org

Popular artificial sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease: Study

Consuming foods containing the artificial sweetener erythritol increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study finds.

torontosun.com

Oh great! Another way of slowing killing us all. Since the "elites" have determined that the world's population is too big, I guess this is simply another way to lower the population.

 

[Taxslave2]

WE have always known that artificial sweeteners are unhealthy.

 

[spaminator]

Ultrafine particles linked to 1,100 deaths per year in Montreal, Toronto: Study
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Joe Bongiorno
Published Aug 10, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

MONTREAL — A study by researchers at McGill University has found that a microscopic air pollutant generated from vehicles and industry plays a role in the deaths of an estimated 1,100 people in Canada’s two biggest cities each year.


Their study, published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, finds that long-term exposure to the ultrafine particles known as UFPs — which are typically less than 100 nanometres in size — increases the risk of mortality.

Researchers tracked air pollution levels between 2001 and 2016 in Toronto and Montreal and used information including mortality data and other records to follow about 1.5 million people over time and calculate the connection between the exposure to UFPs and risk of death.

“We found that people, especially who are living in areas with higher levels of these particles, have a higher risk of mortality overall as well as mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular causes,” Scott Weichenthal, the study’s lead investigator, said in an interview on Wednesday.


The tiny size of the particles allows them to penetrate deep into the human body and enter the bloodstream, contributing to heart and lung diseases, as well as some forms of cancer, said Weichenthal, who is an associate professor in the department of epidemiology, biostatistics, and occupational health at McGill.

Previous studies have underestimated the health dangers posed by such small particles, he said.

According to his analysis, areas in Montreal and Toronto located near highways, airports and rail yards — anywhere fossil fuels and organic material are burned on a large scale — have higher concentrations of UFPs, meaning people who live in those areas are at a higher risk.

“The levels in the east part of Montreal tend to be slightly higher than the west probably because there’s more (of an) industrial area in the east,” he said.


The study’s authors say Ottawa and the provinces need to set concentration limits for UFPs the way they have done to regulate larger particles like fine particulate matter, such as soot from wood-burning.

“Right now we have no regulations at all, and (UFPs) are not really considered in terms of managing air quality,” Weichenthal said. “I think there needs to be more attention in terms of the possible health effects, but also monitoring to try to introduce policies that will reduce emission sources of these particles,” he said, adding that these efforts need to be focused where combustion occurs.

Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ultrafine particles linked to 1,100 deaths per year in Montreal, Toronto: Study

A study by researchers at McGill University has found that a microscopic air pollutant plays a role in the deaths of 1,100 people each year.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Oklahoma latest state to confirm presence of potentially deadly tick
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Aug 10, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

An Asian longhorned tick.
The Asian longhorned tick is worrying Canadian public health officials, who fear that the voracious blood-sucking insect could make its way north from northeastern states like Pennsylvania and New York. Photo by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
An invasive tick that can potentially transmit deadly diseases to humans continues to spread across the United States.


The Daily Mail reported that Oklahoma was the 20th state to confirm the presence of the Asian longhorned tick, which is native to Japan, China, North and South Korea and eastern parts of Russia and can transmit deadly diseases to humans and livestock.

A 2019 threat report from Public Health Ontario says that while “no pathogens of public health significance” have been detected in the ticks in the U.S., the species is known to spread thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) and possibly other diseases in Eastern Asia.

“SFTSV is an emerging, hemorrhagic, tick-borne pathogen in Eastern Asia, where case fatality rates range from 6%-30%,” the Public Health Ontario report said. “The Asian longhorned tick distribution of SFTSV cases is correlated with bird migratory routes in China, Japan and South Korea, showing that birds transport these ticks over long distances”


The Daily Mail reported that no humans have died in the U.S. from an Asian longhorned tick bite, but the parasitic arachnids were blamed for cattle deaths in Ohio last year.


The first Asian longhorned tick was found seven years ago in New Jersey and while they have yet to be reported in Ontario, they have spread across the U.S. with the species confirmed to be present in states close to the Ontario border, including New York and Pennsylvania.

The Daily Mail reported that the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection has found they carry Lyme disease and a virus that causes inflammation in the brain. Adding to the concern is that the ticks can reproduce parthenogenetically, meaning a female can produce thousands of offspring without a mate.

Public Health Ontario said measures can be taken to prevent tick bites, including covering up for outdoor activities and wearing bug repellent. They also advised check yourself for ticks after being outdoors and drying clothes at high heat.

http://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/F/2019/focus-on-asian-longhorned-tick.pdf

Disease-carrying Asian longhorned tick is spreading across the US

The invasive Asian longhorned tick has been found it yet another US state, marking the 20th state that these dangerous vectors of disease have spread to since first appearing in 2017.

dailymail.co.uk

Oklahoma latest state to confirm presence of potentially deadly tick

An invasive tick that can potentially transmit deadly diseases to humans continues to spread across the United States.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Class-action lawsuit certified in B.C. against maker of herbicide that allegedly causes Parkinson's
The representative plaintiff says Syngenta should be liable for its health effects

Author of the article:Joseph Ruttle
Published Aug 14, 2024 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 4 minute read

The B.C. Supreme Court has certified a class-action lawsuit against Syngenta, the maker of a paraquat-based herbicide that two representative plaintiffs are alleging caused their Parkinson’s disease.


The lawsuit filed by Wayne Gionet was brought on behalf of Canadian Parkinson’s patients who used the herbicide, often marketed as Gramoxone, since it was introduced in 1963. Anyone who used the products and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s can join the class action, as can a living spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent or sibling of those who have died as a result of the degenerative disease after using Gramoxone products.

Gionet used Syngenta products extensively for decades in his role as an Agriculture Canada employee in Saanich. The litigation was introduced before Gionet’s death in August 2023 and is continuing on behalf of his estate.

Johannes Van Wijngaarden, who used Gramoxone products for decades before a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2015, is also named as a representative plaintiff.


Syngenta Canada is in the business of agricultural technology including seeds and pesticides. An earlier incarnation of the company known as Imperial Chemical Industries developed paraquat and trademarked Gramoxone in Canada in 1963.

Paraquat dichloride is fast-acting herbicide used by farmers and other commercial and domestic users for weed control. Legislation dating as far back as 1927 regulates the sale and use of such pest control products.



All of Syngenta’s Gramoxone products sold in Canada between 1963 and 2017 that contained the chemical were registered and approved for use under the regulatory framework of the day, which has been updated several times over the years.


The claim covers six of Syngenta’s Gramoxone products over a 60-year period, some of which had active ingredients other than paraquat. The products had detailed instructions about how, where and when they were to be used and had warnings that they were “acutely toxic or hazardous and must be used strictly in accordance with the instructions.”

The plaintiffs are seeking damages and recovery of health care costs for Syngenta’s alleged battery, negligence, negligent design and failure to warn of its products’ potential link to Parkinson’s disease. A claim of “unjust enrichment” was rejected by the certifying judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Wilkinson.

The lawsuit argues “Syngenta’s labels make no mention of any implications of chronic exposure, nor do they make any reference to Parkinson’s disease.”


Hundreds of pages of supporting documents include expert testimony showing that prolonged exposure to paraquat is associated with a 250-per-cent increase in the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease.

The plaintiffs hired two experts in research linking paraquat exposure to its accumulation in a user’s brain and to Parkinson’s, Dr. J. Timothy Greenamyre of the University of Pittsburgh and Professor Myles Cockburn of the University of Southern California.

They also submitted a collection of internal corporate documents dating back decades that suggest “Syngenta’s public statements about Parkinson’s risk conflicted with its internal research.”

Syngenta responded to those medical experts with their own.


Dr. Mandar Jog of the London Health Sciences Centre and a professor of neurology at Western University said Greenamyre’s report was flawed and that there is no evidence of a link between paraquat and Parkinson’s. He argued that, despite extensive research into Parkinson’s, no definitive cause has been identified.

Jog argued animal testing is not relevant in part because only humans can develop Parkinson’s, and tests involved acute exposures such injecting paraquat directly into the bloodstream, which is very different from chronic exposure from using the toxic chemical.

Victoria Kirsh is a neurodegenerative disease expert and epidemiologist for an Ontario health study looking at “a wide range of health outcomes and risk factors over a long period of time” in that province’s population.


Kirsh said epidemiological studies have failed to confirm a “causal relationship” between Parkinson’s disease and paraquat, and referred to the studies produced by the plaintiffs as suffering from “methodological flaws, including recall bias” — a failure by participants to remember past events correctly.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit has been tested in court, and certification as a class-action lawsuit is not a judgment on the merits or chances of success of a claim.

jruttle@postmedia.com

Class-action lawsuit certified in B.C. against maker of herbicide that allegedly causes Parkinson's

The representative plaintiff says Syngenta, which produced and marketed paraquat-based herbicides, should be liable for its health effects

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Earth’s biggest iceberg is caught in a spin cycle
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Daniel Wu, The Washington Post
Published Aug 13, 2024 • 2 minute read

Iceberg A23a
The world's largest iceberg, A23a, in the Scotia Sea between Antarctica and South Georgia. Photo by Getty Images
Nearly 400 miles off the coast of Antarctica, the Earth’s largest iceberg – whose sprawling surface covers more than 1,600 square miles – is spinning like a top.


The iceberg, dubbed A23a, is caught in the churn of a powerful ocean current and revolving slowly, at a rate of around 15 degrees per day, according to the British Antarctic Survey, which shared images of the twirling iceberg on social media set to the Kylie Minogue song “Spinning Around.”

The slow-motion dance is the latest act in a decades-long journey that A23a embarked on after splitting from Antarctica in 1986. It is also staving off the iceberg’s demise. The frigid Southern Ocean vortex that A23a is caught in is slowing the iceberg’s journey north to warmer waters, where most icebergs in the region eventually drift before disintegrating, scientists told The Washington Post.

“The iceberg and the ocean are doing a cooperative dance,” said Douglas MacAyeal, a glaciologist at the University of Chicago.


A23a has had an eventful life. Its separation from Antarctica stranded a Soviet research station that had been based on the iceberg. Soon after, the colossal iceberg lodged itself on the seabed and remained anchored for around 30 years. That lengthy sojourn in the cold waters near Antarctica may have contributed to A23a’s longevity.

“It’s been lucky more than once in its life journey,” Christopher Shuman, who studies the planet’s ice at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, said of the iceberg.

The iceberg broke free from the seabed around 2020 and was floating freely by March 2023, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. By November, the iceberg had passed the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, the BBC reported. That should have put A23a on the path to destruction in the warmer waters of the South Atlantic.


Instead, A23a stopped for a dance break. It became caught in an oceanic phenomenon known as a Taylor column, where the contours of the ocean floor have created a column of rotating water powerful enough to slow the iceberg’s northward drift and trap it in a continuous spin.

And so the mass of ice the size of Rhode Island has spun for months in the Antarctic, delaying the conclusion of its journey with a flourish. A23a’s jig could end eventually as the iceberg slowly melts, or more quickly if a powerful storm pushes it out of the vortex and allows it to resume its path north.

“It could be a year,” said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “It could be a couple of years. It might be there for a long time.”


Although experts are watching A23a closely, Scambos said it’s unlikely the iceberg will pose any risks as it spins or when it eventually drifts onward. It won’t raise sea levels when it melts, because it’s already floating in the ocean and displacing the amount of water that it would contribute when it thaws. A23a will likely disintegrate into thousands of smaller chunks of ice when it meets its end, but Scambos said those will be easy for any ships in the region to avoid.

Until then, glaciologists can enjoy the spectacle of the world’s biggest iceberg twirling to the bitter end.

“I’ve been following icebergs since the year 2000,” Scambos said. “I’ve never seen one do something like this.”

Earth’s biggest iceberg is caught in a spin cycle

The iceberg, dubbed A23a, is caught in the churn of a powerful ocean current and revolving slowly.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Rare white squirrel feels the love from Toronto community
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Aug 14, 2024 • 1 minute read

Screenshot of white squirrel on Toronto sidewalk.
Screenshot of white squirrel on Toronto sidewalk. Photo by Supplied /Adel Gaynutdinov
White squirrels are quite rare, but if you’re lucky, you may have seen one in your lifetime at Trinity Bellwoods Park where they have notoriously been spotted, or Exeter, Ont., which has become known as the province’s white squirrel capital.


But a recent video shared online shows another one of these beautiful creatures — that happened to be nowhere near Queen St. W. (or in a town in South Huron).

“A very unusual squirrel spotted in Midtown Toronto,” Adel Gaynutdinov captioned a clip that was posted on Nextdoor.ca.

Gaynutdinov told the Sun that he was walking near Allen Rd. and Roselawn Ave. when he spotted it in front of a residential building at 360 Ridelle Ave.

The daring creature didn’t appear frightened by Gaynutdinov and approached him fairly confidently as the man tried to get the squirrel to come closer to film it — which it did.

Commenters were, unsurprisingly, in awe of the unique animal, calling it everything from “cute” to “beautiful.”

One person marveled at the rarity of the “albino” squirrel,” however another user pointed out that because the animal didn’t have pink eyes, it was actually a “leucistic” squirrel.


Whatever they are, not only have the white squirrels been seen around Toronto but black-and-white skunk-like ones are also around, though similarly, the sightings are rare.


One person commented on this white squirrel’s fearlessness, noting, “Looks like this squirrel has had many admirers , considering how he came right up… maybe expecting food. Though unusual and even beautiful, he should be careful as he stands out among predators AND is too trusting.”

Gaynutdinov was simply grateful to have seen it.

“I just got lucky to encounter that beauty.”

Rare white squirrel feels the love from Toronto community

A recent video shared online shows a brave white squirrel — that happened to be nowhere near Trinity Bellwoods.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Town council asks Ontario to declare domestic violence an epidemic
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Aug 14, 2024 • 1 minute read
The council of a southwestern Ontario town where a mother and two children were found dead in their home from gunshot wounds is writing a letter to the provincial government urging it to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
The council of a southwestern Ontario town where a mother and two children were found dead in their home from gunshot wounds is writing a letter to the provincial government urging it to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
ESSEX, ONT. — The council of a southwestern Ontario town where a mother and two children were found dead in their home from gunshot wounds is writing a letter to the provincial government asking it to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.


The Essex, Ont., town council passed a motion this week to send a letter to the premier and local MPPs urging them to pass Bill 173, which would recognize intimate partner violence as an epidemic in Ontario.

The bill passed a second reading in April and has been referred to the justice policy committee.



The council motion comes after provincial police were called to a home in the Essex community of Harrow in June and found 41-year-old Carly Walsh and her two children, 13-year-old Madison and eight-year-old Hunter, dead from gunshot wounds.

Police said Walsh’s husband and the children’s father, 42-year-old Steven Walsh, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Councillor Kim Verbeek, who brought forward the motion, says more than 100 municipalities have already declared intimate partner violence an epidemic, and doing so at the provincial level can call attention to the urgency and severity of the issue.

Town council asks Ontario to declare domestic violence an epidemic

The Essex, Ont., town council passed a motion this week to send a letter to the premier and local MPPs urging them to pass Bill 173.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Might as well. Hell, why go with half-measures? Declare it a PANDEMIC!