RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
The world's coral reefs are under attack by climate change and more will disappear if oceans keep warming, according to a report released Tuesday.
The study by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), a UN-supported global data network, showed that 14 per cent of the world's coral on reefs was already lost between 2009 and 2018, equal to about 11,700 square kilometres, an area 2.5 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park.
Corals face an "existential crisis," scientists said, as sea surface temperatures rise. The report spanned data for 40 years, 73 countries and 12,000 sites.
Sharp spikes in warming are particularly damaging, a phenomenon scientists say is linked to human-caused climate change.
The study looked at 10 coral reef-bearing regions around the world and found that loss was mainly attributed to coral bleaching, which happens when corals, under stress from warmer water, expel the colorful algae living in their tissues, making them turn white.
One severe bleaching event in 1998 alone killed 8 per cent of the world's corals, the study said.
The hardest hit areas are South Asia, Australia, the Pacific, East Asia, the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
Overfishing, unsustainable coastal development and declining water quality are other factors battering the reefs.
"There are clearly unsettling trends toward coral loss, and we can expect these to continue as warming persists," said Paul Hardisty, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, in a statement shared by the United Nations.
The global ocean has warmed faster over the past century than since the end of the last deglacial transition, around 11,000 years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a landmark report in August.
While coral reefs cover less than 1 per cent of the ocean floor, they support more than 25 per cent of marine biodiversity, including turtles, fish and lobsters, which fuel global fishing industries.
The reefs are responsible for an estimated US$2.7 trillion annually in goods and services, including tourism, the report said.
Scientists did find, however, there was about a 2 per cent regain among coral reefs 2019, showing they can be resilient when given respite from the siege of factors working against them.
If pressure is relieved on the coral reefs, they could flourish again within a decade to pre-1998 levels, the report said.
Recent efforts to support coral reefs include a mitigation project off the coast of Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda called Ocean-Shot, which uses technology that mimics the design and shape of natural reefs to provide opportunities for colonization by corals and other marine life.
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
There is a swaying sea of colour in some cities across Canada, and it's a sure sign of spring: cherry blossoms are in bloom.
A Michigan woman was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and other crimes after prosecutors say she drunkenly smashed her SUV into a boat club that was hosting a birthday party, killing two young siblings and injuring several other people.
Toronto's Chief of Police has clarified a statement that he'd hoped for "a different outcome" made just after Umar's Zameer acquittal, telling reporters Tuesday he supports and accepts the jury's finding in the five-week trial.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.