NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
A Dalhousie University team of scientists — in a joint venture with a company called Planetary Technologies — is now in the next phase of their research to use the power of the ocean to one day reduce the world’s carbon levels.
Ruth Musgrave, assistant professor in the department of oceanography, and her team are measuring the characteristics of the water in the Halifax harbour.
She told CTV National News it is “laying the ground work” in order to test their innovative research on a larger scale.
The team has been researching what would happen if they add large amounts of purified and non-toxic mine tailings into the water in the hopes of accelerating the ocean’s natural process of pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The ocean absorbs between one quarter and one third of all carbon dioxide already, but as humans actively spew more and more emissions into the atmosphere, that natural balance is working overtime.
“It’s a race against time that we’re already losing,” Musgrave said. “We’re already seeing dramatic changes to the climate, and that’s only going to accelerate in time.”
Dr. William Burt, chief ocean scientist with Planetary Technologies, says the ocean’s work to clear up our atmosphere means that its current state is not what it used to be.
“The oceans are at very harmful acidic state right now, thanks to [200 to 300 years of] industrial emissions coming into our oceans and making them upwards to 40 per cent more acidic than they were prior to the industrial revolution,” he told CTV News.
But surely, putting waste material from mining into the water is a bad thing, right? Not once the mine tailings have been purified and put to work through the Accelerated Carbon Transition (ACT) Platform, according to scientists.
Their research suggests that not only could the purified mine tailings help the ocean pull carbon dioxide, it could act as an antacid when mixed with sea water, neutralizing the acidity and providing a use for mining waste at the same time.
“And when you do that, that alkalinity will transform carbon dioxide, and by doing that, you decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in that water,” he said.
Future pilot sites are being considered here in Halifax and in the U.K.
And in April, the project got a boost when it caught the attention of the Elon Musk Foundation.
Planetary Technologies are one of fifteen companies chosen to be awarded $1 million through Musk’s competition looking for new ideas to reduce the world’s current carbon levels.
“Winning the Xprize was about validation of our science, validation of our business,” Burt said.
The money will now be used to demonstrate their research on a much larger scale, which would put them in line to potentially win a future $50 million dollar prize. The winner will be announced in 2025, and if Planetary Technologies can demonstrate that their strategy works well enough to remove at least 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year, they could be well on their way to not only the grand prize, but a better world.
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
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 four 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.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.