BREAKING Another suspect arrested in Toronto Pearson airport gold heist: police
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
A new study warns that the amount of chemical pollution on the planet has now exceeded a safe limit, threatening the 'viability' of human civilization.
An international team of researchers published their findings in the journal Environmental Science & Technology on Tuesday. Their study builds on a 2009 Swedish-led paper that established the safe limit, otherwise known as "planetary boundary," for several environmental metrics, including greenhouse gas emissions, ozone layer depletion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and chemical pollution.
The planet had remained within those limits for 10,000 years since the start of human civilization. But a 2015 study concluded that we had then exceeded safe limits when it comes to climate change, biodiversity loss, shifts in soil nutrients and land use. Now, this new study says we're beyond the planetary boundary for chemical pollution, also called "novel entities."
"The impact of those changes is on the viability of human civilization," study co-author Miriam Diamond, a University of Toronto environmental sciences professor, told CTVNews.ca over the phone on Friday. "We are very concerned that there's a tipping point at which human civilization is really imperilled."
There are around 350,000 different chemicals manufactured globally. These chemicals are involved in everything from plastics, pesticides, manufacturing, industrial applications, pharmaceuticals and more.
"That means everything from what's in my toothpaste to what I'm wearing," Diamond said. "We mobilize many, many chemicals in our daily lives, of which we're able to understand the implications of so few."
These chemicals are ubiquitous. They can be found on all seven continents, in the atmosphere and even in Mariana Trench – the deepest part of all the oceans.
Chemical production has seen a 50-fold increase around the world since 1950 and researchers expect that to triple by 2050. Plastic pollution alone increased 79 per cent between 2000 and 2015 and is expected to reach 33 billion tonnes by 2050.
"The rate of production and the rate at which new chemicals are entering commerce far exceeds the rate at which we can figure out their effects," said Diamond.
Some of the adverse effects of these chemicals can be clearly seen in certain animal populations. For example, polychlorinated biphenyl, an industrial chemical that was banned in North America in the 1970s, continues to linger in our ecosystems and has been linked to reduced fertility in orca whales and polar bears, threatening their populations. Seabirds have also been observed ingesting plastic while mistaking it for food, which often leads to death.
"You can find a synthetic chemical in every organism on the planet," Diamond said.
In humans, numerous studies have found a correlation between exposure to certain chemicals and reduced fertility, lower IQ and even weaker immune functions.
"It's a big, large body of evidence. It's not a single study. It's many studies, from the toxicological studies done in test tubes, to the rats and mice and to the epidemiological studies in humans," said Diamond.
At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to impose a hard cap on oil and gas emissions. Diamond believes similar measures should be taken to limit the production of chemical pollutants.
"Canada is so far behind. You know, this is bad news for Canadians, because ultimately … reducing our dependence on so many synthetic chemicals is going to benefit our prosperity because it will push innovation," she said. "Canada needs to be a leader."
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
A video circulating on social media of a young girl being hit by a bike has some calling for better safety and more caution when designing bike lanes in the city. The video shows a four-year-old girl crossing Jeanne-Mance Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood to get on a school bus stopped on the opposite side of the street
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 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.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.