This morning on the show we heard from two of the presenters at the Yes You Can conference: Lisa Nisbet on the physical and psychological benefits to spending time in nature, and . . . → Read More: January 27, 2011: ‘Green is the Colour of Happiness’]]> Nature can make you happier – hear about Lisa Nisbet’s research from her presentation called ‘Green is the Colour of Happiness’ Credit.

This morning on the show we heard from two of the presenters at the Yes You Can conference: Lisa Nisbet on the physical and psychological benefits to spending time in nature, and Owen Temby on greenhouse gas regulation in the US and Canada.

Lisa Nisbet: ‘Green in the Colour of Happiness’
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
Lisa Nisbet is a PhD Candidate and lecturer here at Carleton in the department of Psychology, and Henry Hawkins talked to her this week about her research on happiness and nature. She has created a nature relatedness scale to measure people’s connectedness to nature, and done studies on students who take the tunnels at Carleton, and discovered that they would be much happier if they walked outdoors.

Owen Temby: Greenhouse Gas Regulations in the U.S. and Canada
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
Owen Temby is a PhD candidate and lecturer in the department of Political Science at Carleton, researching air pollution regulations. Henry Hawkins talked to him about the history, and current efforts of air pollution regulation in the United States, the Clean Air Act, and what the recent pledge to govern greenhouse gas emissions could mean for Canada and the U.S. in the future.

The Environmental News
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s Environmental News, study reveals that mass volcanic eruptions led to Earth’s first environmental disaster, the US congress targets the Clean Air Act, a sea census discovers 1200 new marine species, Jordan announces its plans for solar energy, and a newly discovered bacteria will cause the Titanic to disappear within 20 years.

Pierre Mineau: Industrial Agriculture By: Chris Mineau, Regular SPF Contributor For her first feature, Chris discusses the . . . → Read More: December 16, 2010: Industrial Agriculture]]> This morning on the show we heard the first feature from new SPF’er Chris Mineau, about industrial agriculture, and Henry and Robyn talked about their fourth year undergrad geography theses, and their process so far.

Pierre Mineau: Industrial Agriculture
By: Chris Mineau, Regular SPF Contributor
For her first feature, Chris discusses the history of industrial agriculture, and spoke to senior research scientist Pierre Mineau from Environment Canada about the consequences of pesticide use. He talks about the ‘green revolution’, and its pesticide use, fertilizers, and selective seed breeding, that has allowed increased crop yields to support exponentially growing populations over the past few hundred years.

The Carleton University Undergrad Thesis: Research & Ethics
By: Henry Hawkins & Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributors
Henry and Robyn have progressed with their theses, with Henry focusing in on solar panel adoption in Ontario under the OPA’s microFIT program, and Robyn looking at the effects of green roofs in Ottawa, and on Carleton campus. They talked about their progress so far, about the hurdles of ethics clearance, and about their topics in general.

The Environmental News
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, bp gets the treatment it deserves, new hope to save the polar bears, Finland’s fight to protect forest space has finally ended, and butterflies flutter no more?

This morning on the show we heard about carbon taxation, had the fourth episode of our Madgical Moments series, and got an update from the Canadian Youth Delegation about the UN meetings . . . → Read More: December 9, 2010: Carbon Taxation and a Madgical Moment]]> Carbon emissions from a coal fired power plant. Hear about the potential future of carbon taxation in today’s interview with John Curtis.

This morning on the show we heard about carbon taxation, had the fourth episode of our Madgical Moments series, and got an update from the Canadian Youth Delegation about the UN meetings in Cancun.

John Curtis: Carbon Taxation
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributor
This week Robyn Penney discussed carbon taxation with John Curtis, a distinguished fellow of the Canadian Center for International Gorvernance. For John, carbon taxation in North America is the way of the future. John and Robyn discussed how it is organized within the European Union, how it would be applied here in North America, and what are the barriers to success and implementation in North America.

Madgical Moments, Episode 4: The Santa Map
By: Beth Ray, Maps Specialist @ MADGIC
This episode looks at a map series called ‘The Santa map: a cultural geography of the world’s most beloved man’, with many separate maps, illustrations and texts. It speculates on his delivery routes around the world, and looks at the evolution of Santa Claus as a cultural phenomenon since 10,000 BCE. To track Santa Claus on his journey, visit NORAD’s site.

Environmental News
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s news, debate continues on NASA’s discovery of bacteria that thrive on arsenic, the EU creates a memorandum of understanding for a future shared electricity grid for offshore wind, Google unveils a new platform to track environmental changes, the first private spacecraft successfully orbits the Earth, and the UN’s climate change conference in Cancun is wrapping up.

This morning on the show we heard the first feature from new SPF’er Kathy Lopez, and played the first episode of the Canadian Youth Delegation’s podcast series from the UN climate conference in Cancun. . . . → Read More: December 2, 2010: Peter Singer Lecture]]> Philosopher Peter Singer delivering a lecture; hear about his approach to climate change ethics in this week’s feature. Picture Credit.

This morning on the show we heard the first feature from new SPF’er Kathy Lopez, and played the first episode of the Canadian Youth Delegation’s podcast series from the UN climate conference in Cancun.

Peter Singer: Ethical Dilemmas of Climate Change – Lecture Analysis
By: Kathy Lopez, Regular SPF Contributor
On November 18th, 2010, the Department of Philosophy at Carleton University hosted professor Singer as he delivered a lecture entitled “Climate Change: The Moral Wrongdoing by the Developed World”. He approached the issue of global warming through an ethical perspective, and based on three moral principals that give different solutions to the problem. He also explored the moral obligations of governments and individuals in addressing climate change. Singer showed that climate change is not only an problem for international politics and economies, but a moral issue based on underlying ethical dilemmas.

The Canadian Youth Delegation: Cancun Conference Podcasts
By: The CYD
The Canadian Youth Delegation are a group of volunteers from around Canada who focus on increasing awareness of climate change, and seek to engage youth in the fight for solutions to current climate problems. They are in Cancun right now, attending the 16th UN conference for climate change. The conference brings together representatives from countries around the world, to try to reach an agreement on future policies to address climate change. The Youth Delegation has been making daily podcasts of their experiences so far, and we played one of their episodes on the show this morning.

The Environmental News
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, scientists develop a prototype that converts co2 into gasoline, governments act to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Nova Scotia introduces the first anti-idling act in Canada, and new research sheds light on the largest mammals that ever lived.

Madgical Moments, Episode 2: Peacekeeping Around The World By: Joanne Cameron, Government Documents Specialist

This morning on the show we had the second episode of the Madgical Moments, brought to you by the Madgic . . . → Read More: October 21, 2010: Madgical Moments, Part 2]]> Canadian Peacekeepers at the Israel/Egypt border in 1962. Hear about the ‘Keeping The Peace’ map in this week’s Madgical Moment.

Madgical Moments, Episode 2: Peacekeeping Around The World
By: Joanne Cameron, Government Documents Specialist

This morning on the show we had the second episode of the Madgical Moments, brought to you by the Madgic Department in the MacOdrum Library here at Carleton. This episode looks at a map called ‘Keeping The Peace’, from the Understanding Global Issues current events series that is available through the Madgic Department. The map gives an overview of the history and locations of peacekeeping around the world since the end of World War II. It highlights a number of locations including Haiti, Pakistan, Kosovo, and East Timor.

You can see the Madgic Library website here, and access their blog here.

Declaring Toxins
By: Digory McGinn, Guest SpF Contributor

What does it mean when a substance is suddenly declared a toxic chemical? Special guest host Digory McGinn prepared a short report on the subject in light of the recent status of bisphenol-A being labelled a toxic substance.

The Ottawa Forest and Greenspace Advisory Committee
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SpF Contributor

The OFGAC works to protect trees and greenspaces within the capital region, and report to city council on important issues, and Robyn gave a short profile of their organization this morning.

Today on the show we took a trip to the archives to hear an always timely look at idling. In the feature, Carol Hunsberger spoke with Lisa Worthington from Natural Resources Canada about ways in which . . . → Read More: July 29, 2010: Idling Initiatives]]> The Milky Way Galaxy; hear about the discover of potentially habitable Earth-like planets in this week’s Environmental News.

Today on the show we took a trip to the archives to hear an always timely look at idling. In the feature, Carol Hunsberger spoke with Lisa Worthington from Natural Resources Canada about ways in which NRCan, municipalities, school kids and volunteers across Canada have been trying to get people to stop idling their vehicles. Lisa talked about the fuel savings and air quality improvements connected with idling reduction, as well as the idea that this ‘easy’ behavioural change can motivate people to take more significant actions in the future.

In the Environmental News, Henry talked about the recent flooding in China, a potential new law in the US to reform the regulation of harmful chemicals, toxic water supplies in China, an expedition to map the territory of the Beaufort Sea, and NASA’s Kepler mission results that suggest millions of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy.

Today on the show we heard from Henry Hawkins with a recap of the first 50 days of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico. He explained what happened to cause the . . . → Read More: June 10, 2010: The Deepwater Horizon Spill, Day 50]]> A satellite image of the oil spill from the former Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Today on the show we heard from Henry Hawkins with a recap of the first 50 days of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico. He explained what happened to cause the explosion, the spill, and all the attempts to stop the flow so far. With bp suffering extreme fallout from the US government, from plummeting share prices, the environmental damages rising rapidly, and fallout being felt in the tourist and fishing industries, the oil spill is expected to continue until at least August.

We also heard from Robyn with another update from her 4th year Honours Field Course in Oxbow Park. This week she spoke with Leanne and Leslie about their contributions.

Ever found yourself in . . . → Read More: November 15, 2007: Toward Sustainable Living]]> This week on the show, Ashleigh Grange interviewed Diane Falvey about the reality and the possibilities of permaculture, both in Canada an internationally. Diane will be speaking at the “Power of Community” event tonight at the main branch of the Ottawa Library from 7-9 pm, hosted by the Sierra Club.

Ever found yourself in a cloud of exhaust behind a car that’s going nowhere? Carol Hunsberger spoke with Lisa Worthington from Natural Resources Canada about ways in which NRCan, municipalities, school kids and volunteers across Canada have been trying to get people to stop idling their vehicles. Lisa talked about the fuel savings and air quality improvements connected with idling reduction, as well as the idea that this ‘easy’ behavioural change can motivate people to take more significant actions in the future.