/newsroom/taxonomy/term/2982/all en /newsroom/channels/news/seawater-memory-keeper-energy-source-and-pollution-tracking-342845 <h6><img alt="Sampling seawater just below the surface of a seagrass bed in Quatsino Sound, British Columbia" src="/newsroom/files/newsroom/channels/image/seawater-bottled.png" style="width:60%" /><br /> <i>Sampling seawater just below the surface of a seagrass bed in Quatsino Sound, British Columbia. Credit: Mike McDermid</i></h6> <h2>What can a bottle of seawater tell you about the fish living below?</h2> Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:58:01 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 288427 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/narwal-tusks-reveal-mercury-exposure-related-climate-change-330059 <p>In the Arctic, climate change and pollution are the biggest threats to top predators like narwhals. Studying the animals’ tusks reveals that diet and exposure to pollution have shifted over the past half century in response to sea-ice decline. Human emissions have also led to a sharp rise in the presence of mercury in recent years, according to an international team of researchers.</p> Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:13:31 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 257550 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/its-snowing-plastic-329666 <p>The snow may be melting, but it is leaving pollution behind in the form of micro- and nano-plastics according to a McGill study that was recently published in <em><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749121002773">Environmental Pollution</a></em>. The pollution is largely due to the relatively soluble plastics found in antifreeze products (polyethylene glycols) that can become airborne and picked up by the snow.</p> Wed, 17 Mar 2021 12:29:26 +0000 katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca 256716 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/smog-montreal-319655 <p>A smog warning is still in effect for the Greater Montreal area Monday as high concentrations of pollutants are expected to infiltrate the air. According to Environment Canada, this could "result in poor air quality, especially in urban areas where pollutant emissions are higher." (<a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/smog-warning-still-in-effect-for-greater-montreal-1.4791796">CTV</a>)</p> <p>McGill expert who can comment on the issue:</p> Mon, 03 Feb 2020 18:50:41 +0000 katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca 198405 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/pollution-athabasca-oil-sands-affects-weather-processes-302608 <p>Scientists have been looking at pollution affecting the air, land and water around the Athabasca Oil Sands for some time. After looking at contaminants in snow taken from up-to 25 km away from the oil sands, a McGill-led scientific team now suggests that oil sand pollution is also affecting the weather patterns in the surrounding regions.</p> Thu, 14 Nov 2019 14:03:30 +0000 amelia.souffrant@mail.mcgill.ca 188193 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/melting-snow-contains-toxic-cocktail-pollutants-267489 <p>With spring finally here and warmer temperatures just around the corner, snow will slowly melt away, releasing us from the clutches of winter. However, that’s not the only thing that the melting snow will release. Researchers from McGill University and École de technologie supérieure in Montreal have found that urban snow accumulates a toxic cocktail from car emissions - pollutants that are in turn unleashed into the environment as the weather warms up.</p> Tue, 04 Apr 2017 15:30:16 +0000 justin.dupuis@mcgill.ca 26841 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/woodstoves-are-good-soul-bad-heart-266643 <p><span>The risk of acute myocardial infarction for the elderly living in and around small cities is increased by air pollution caused by biomass burning from woodstoves.  </span></p> <p>It is well documented that air pollution in big cities causes heart and lung problems. But what are its consequences on people in smaller urban centres?</p> Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:35:54 +0000 laurie.devine@mcgill.ca 26741 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/why-do-some-fish-thrive-oil-polluted-water-258096 <p><strong><em>By Melody Enguix</em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="/newsroom">McGill Newsroom</a></strong></p> <p>When scientists from McGill University learned that some fish were proliferating in rivers and ponds polluted by oil extraction in Southern Trinidad, it caught their attention. They thought they had found a rare example of a species able to adapt to crude oil pollution.</p> Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:19:43 +0000 nima.adibpour@mail.mcgill.ca 25147 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/microplastic-pollution-discovered-st-lawrence-river-239101 <p>A team of researchers from McGill University and the Quebec government have discovered microplastics (in the form of polyethylene 'microbeads,' less than 2 mm in diameter) widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments. Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:23:09 +0000 cynthia.lee@mcgill.ca 21154 at /newsroom