'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
A new study by climate scientists suggests some “hot spot regions” around the world contain ecosystems that are at-risk due to water availability.
A group of researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia investigated how changes in water and energy availability -- both crucial to the process of photosynthesis -- are projected to change around the world using a simulator, looking at 1980 to 2100.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Monday, suggest ecosystems in Central Europe, the Amazon, and Western Russia are going to be impacted as climate change limits water availability.
Energy, including sunlight and heat, is not in short supply as climate change increases energy availability for plants and ecosystems. But Jasper Denissen, a former PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany and the lead author of the study, says water availability is another story.
“We found that globally, ecosystems become thirstier by becoming more water-limited,” Denissen said in a press release.
The simulator suggests an additional six million square kilometres of the Earth’s land surface could become water-limited by 2100, compared to 1980.
Periods of water limitation are also projected to increase in duration, according to the study, with nearly half the study area experiencing water shortages for two months longer per year by 2100.
"These shifts in the vegetation's water limitation in space and time leave vegetation craving for water across larger regions and during longer consecutive periods," said Rene Orth, another lead author of the study, in the release.
The researchers say the information is crucial, as well-functioning ecosystems and the process of photosynthesis play key roles on our planet, including providing food and water security, intaking carbon dioxide created by human activity, and providing evaporative cooling to bring temperatures down.
Evaporative cooling occurs during photosynthesis when small openings on the leaf of a plant, called stomata, open up to take in carbon dioxide, according to the study. Through the open stomata, water from the plant evaporates back into the atmosphere. This process creates a cooling effect, which researchers say is crucial in dealing with rising temperatures and extreme heat waves due to climate change, possibly preventing heat stress and heat-related deaths.
The study’s authors say more research is needed to understand how ecosystems are impacted by climate change to make changes to human activity, including agriculture and forest management, to mitigate the impact on ecosystems.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.