Fire at the University of Manitoba

A Shock !

Today the fourth floor of the Duff Roblin building (Zoology) at the University of Manitoba caught fire.  I spent my undergraduate and graduate years prowling these halls and taught here for one year after finishing my Masters degree.   The firefighters are standing immediately beside my old office window in the Buller building.

I hope the damage is not too extensive.  There are a lot of memories in there (including driving my motorcycle through the building one night).

The building was named after a former premier of Manitoba.  Ironically, while Duff is losing a building, Duff's Ditch (the Winnipeg Floodway) is about to save the city from heavy spring flooding.

Photo Credit: David Lipnowski, Winnipeg Free Press

Chemistry Kits

I had one of these as a kid.  They were great.  Sure the first thing I did was blow some stuff up but that stopped when I realized I didn't have an endless supply of test tubes and beakers.

It is sad that kids today can't get access to simple chemistry kits.

Source: Wired Science

I Told You So

Twenty years ago, in 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground off the coast of Alaska dumping 40 million litres of oil into Prince William Sound.  

Today, Prince William Sound looks clean, but it isn't. A study has shown that a great deal of oil still remains.

Back in 1982, I pulled together some data that had been lying around in the lab in which I did my Master's thesis research.  It was dealing with how oil and water mix and the toxicity of this mixture.  I presented that data to a conference in Edmonton, attended by a great many representative of the oil and gas industry.  I was unprepared for the hostility the data and my presentation would receive, unfamiliar with the politics of oil.

One person wearing a suit of some expense--mine would have made Michael Moore proud--, took exception to the data showing the degree of toxicity.  He said something to the effect of, "It's all gone in a few years so who gives a damn!"

I replied that the 'visible' fraction of the oil on beaches would be gone, but the heavy fraction, composed of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would remain beneath the surface for a very long time.  This would move through the food chain and while it might not result in oil soaked sea otters washing up on the shore, it would still be causing damage.  This was not greeted well and suggestions of wild speculation rose from the floor.  There were around two hundred people attending, and from my perspective on the podium, no one seemed happy. 

Now we find ourselves twenty years down the road from the Exxon Valdez.  What is the research showing?  According to a recent interview with Jeff Short in Science News, who studied the spill for NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), about half of the original toxicity of the oil remains,..... mostly in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.  

Photo Credit: Oiled bird: Courtesy of the Exxon Valdex Oil Spill Trustee Council

A Long Way To Go

These data are following the sales of new (red) and existing (blue) homes in the United States over the past several years.

The building of new homes in the US is critical for the Williams Lake lumber industry and these data do not look good.  

First, it isn't at all clear that the sales of new homes has bottomed out, although there isn't much left to lose.  Second, the gap between the sales of new and existing homes--slightly artificial because of the differing scales, but this is how the two are normally compared--is arising because of the resale of bargain foreclosed homes.  The low value of these homes is likely to out compete new homes for some time yet.  Third, the inventory of homes for sale is still very high as builders went crazy during the past few boom years.  

Short story: Sales of all homes are way down.  Inventory of existing homes is very high.  Of those homes that do sell, foreclosed existing homes will out compete new homes for some time. Need for dimensional lumber?  Not so much.

This situation will get better but it may take a long while.  People should be thinking about long-term options.

(Warning: this advice is coming from a biologist).

For a short video, explaining just how we got into this mess, click here.

Figure credit:www.calculatedriskblog.com

For The Record

The Alberta government needs to fact check their facts.

I was listening to CBC radio a few days ago when I heard that the Government of Alberta has added an on-line fact check feature relating to news articles about the province.  They call it "For the Record."

The CBC noted that the Alberta government was crying foul at a statement made recently in The Economist magazine regarding the tar sand operations.  The Economist (January 15, 2009) stated, "At some projects, leaks of toxic materials have polluted waterways."

In response, the Alberta government website stated, for the record,"Alberta has monitored and tested Athabasca watercourses for decades; all of our data indicates no evidence of contamination from the oil sands project."

Is the Alberta government telling the truth?  Not according to my memory.  

Sometime in the early 1980s (probably 1982) my Master's degree supervisor, Dr. Lyle Lockhart, at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, was involved in providing expert testimony against Suncor (one of the big tar sand operators) relating to a spill into the Athabasca River.  The lab I was working in did some toxicity testing of the oil using duckweed as a bioindicator.  It was necessary to provide evidence of the toxicity of the material.

I recall the spill was caused by a fire that burned through the protective liner of a waste pond. The spill occurred in the winter as it was detected days after the event by a helicopter pilot who saw a huge plug of oil under the ice. 

Many charges were laid against Suncor but the province of Alberta handed the case over to a single lawyer who was overwhelmed with the legal paperwork created by a small army of lawyers for Suncor.   He had a nervous breakdown, at least that is what I was told, during the trial.  In the end, most charges were dismissed and Suncor was convicted only on a handful. If my memory is correct, total fines were in the few thousands of dollars.  Probably less than one week of lawyers fees.

I say that The Economist got it right.

Photo Credit: The Economist (tar sand operations near Fort McMurray).

US State of the Birds Report

The United States has just released its first State of the Birds report (click here), reviewing bird population trends in the US over the last forty years.  Over 800 species of birds were included in the report, and frankly, while there is some encouraging news, there isn't a lot.

The encouraging news comes mostly from bird populations associated with wetlands.  Strong conservation efforts over the past forty years, driven by agencies seeking to maintain waterfowl populations for hunting, have led to improvements in wetland bird populations (see Figure below).  The story, however, is not so encouraging for most other habitat associated species.  In particular, grassland and arid bird species are becoming increasingly unhealthy.

I suspect my experience in the south Okanagan this past summer was indicative of the problem.  I was working on a project examining the ant diet of the Williamsons Sapsucker, a forest nesting bird found in the highlands of the Okanagan and Kootenays areas.  While my project was taking a close look at how forest management was affecting this particular bird, it was obvious as you travelled through the valleys of the south Okanagan, naturally characterized by arid grasslands and pocket desert, that little natural habitat remained.  

While fruit orchards have long been established in this area, vineyards are currently expanding throughout the arid landscape.  As one travels down any of the area roads you encounter endless vineyards and very little natural landscape.  The vineyards now push high onto the hillsides of the valleys, running directly into the higher forest, replacing all of the native vegetation.  A plan to try and preserve some of the remaining native landscape in a new federal park is hotly derided by area farmers.  Signs saying "NO new national park" are found everywhere along the roads.

Unfortunately, grassland and arid landscapes are not producing a product (e.g., waterfowl) that attracts the interests of private agencies.  Birds are often viewed by farmers as pests and, as usual, commercial interests trump conservation when the two seem to conflict.  

If we fail to establish a national park in the south Okanagan, I think the decision will be an indicator for the broader prospects of these birds throughout N. America.  

Figure Credit: US State of the Birds report.

Birding by Microphone

I don't quite 'get' birding, but pretty much every naturalist I know 'does.'  Personally, give me a ten-lined June bug over a Canadian Warbler anyday.  

Still, those who are interested in birding are probably the most active conservationists on the planet.  The time they spend outdoors makes them keenly aware of the changes occuring to both the rural and urban environment that most people don't notice as they speed by at 50 km/hr.

Here is an idea to expand birding into the night.  A simple microphone system (cost perhaps $50.00) that can be hooked up to an old computer to record calls of birds migrating at night.  Developed by William Evans, formerly with Cornell University, the microphone is built from a flower pot, a dinner plate, some Saran Wrap, and a couple of cheap electronic components that apparently can be assembled in just a couple of hours.  Dr. Evans website, click here, provides step by step details.

The website also provides some simple software and the recordings of bird calls (spectrograms) that make the system work.  The one shortfall is that the records are specific to birds of eastern and central N. America.  However, it should not be too hard to input the spectrograms of western species. Anyone interested?

The tireless work of birders in recording bird sightings has created one of the best databases for following bird species abundances over time.  The US has just released a federally sponsored report on bird populations.  Much of the data is not good.  I'll post this tomorrow.

Hat Tip: Wired Science

Photo Credit: Williams Evans.  Photo of assembled bird microphone.