How does wildfire smoke affect birds? This researcher is looking to find out
Catherine Ivy, a bird lover and assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan college of arts and science, is leading the project.
"I've always been interested in how birds are able to conduct their long migratory flights, and was interested in how animals change their breathing to deal with challenging environments," Ivy said.
Canada's 2023 wildfire season was the worst on record in terms of area burned. The 2024 season was the second-worst since 1995.
Ivy said there is anecdotal evidence that shows birds are being impacted by wildfire smoke, but there has never been research on the effects.
One wildfire wouldn't have any adverse effect on birds, but repeated events and repeated exposure could.
Ivy said there has been extensive research done on humans and lab animals.
"We know from Health Canada and a whole bunch of other health funding bodies that being outside in the smoke is not good for us [humans]," she said.
"But the one thing that research is kind of disregarded at the moment is what happens to wildlife that's outside."
Ivy said this is important because it could help us be more aware of why bird populations are declining. She said we already know that changes to migratory routes, such as buildings where they didn't used to be, have had an impact.
"But we don't know if wildfire smoke also adds on top of that," she said. "If wildfire smoke affects their lungs and affects their ability to migrate, it means that they might get stuck in environments that don't have enough resources for them during their southbound migration."
She said the research will track migratory birds who fly long distances, and compare birds who have been exposed to wildfire smoke to those who haven't.
"Health Canada tells us to stay inside, only breathe clean air," she said. "But these animals live outside all year round. So unfortunately we have this gap in our knowledge."
The project received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) discovery grant program.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
3 minutes ago
- CBC
Manitoba researchers part of team working to unravel mystery of largest black hole merger ever detected
A group of Manitoba researchers were involved behind the scenes of an international effort that this week revealed how two massive black holes careened into one — happily, billions of light years from Earth. University of Manitoba astrophysicist Samar Safi-Harb, the Canada Research Chair in Extreme Astrophysics, and her team are collaborators on the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA program, which on Monday published evidence of what Safi-Harb says is "the most massive binary black hole detected to date." Another surprise from the detection, originally made in November 2023, was the breakneck speed at which each black hole was spinning at the time they crashed together — "close to the maximum possible [speed] allowed by theory," said Safi-Harb, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy at the Winnipeg-based U of M. "So not just they are massive, they're spinning like crazy — 400,000 times the Earth's rotation speed." Her team wasn't directly involved in this detection, but they're part of the community of thousands of researchers globally involved in LIGO — the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which operates detectors in Washington state and Louisiana. The team includes U of M postdoctoral fellow Nathan Steinle, who specializes in gravitational wave astrophysics and modelling the collision of black holes, while postdoc Labani Mallick works on electromagnetic observations of black holes. Safi-Harb's PhD student, Neil Doerksen, is focused on improving the sensitivity of detectors used in gravitational wave detection technology, and PhD student Lucas da Conceição works on detection of neutron star gravitational waves. Studying wild extremes All five research wild extremes — extreme temperatures, extreme gravity, extreme magnetic fields exhibited by astrophysical systems. Those just happen to be associated with the deaths of stars — which Safi-Harb is fascinated by because of what they can tell us about where everything comes from. Stellar explosions lead to the creation of some of the heaviest elements in the universe: the calcium in your bones. That gold engagement ring your grandmother left you. The platinum in the catalytic converter stolen from your buddy's sedan. It all came from a beautiful kaboom in the vacuum of space. The more commonly understood way black holes are born is the collapse when a massive star reaches the end of its life. Its stellar corpse morphs into this mysterious, incredibly dense pack of matter, with gravity so intense not even light can escape. That basically makes black holes invisible to conventional light-based telescopes, which is why traditional studies have homed in on the indirect effects black holes have on their surroundings. X-ray telescopes allow scientists to, for example, infer the presence of a black hole by studying the gravitational effects they exert on nearby stars, or by finding materials like gas and dust that forms in disks around black holes. But when it comes to hunting for black hole collisions, different tools are needed. LIGO is designed to look for gravitational wave signatures first predicted to exist by Albert Einstein over a century ago. Einstein's general theory of relativity postulated that these waves rippling through space-time are produced by the motion of accelerating objects. Big, big ones. "If you throw a rock or a stone into a lake, you observe those ripples," said Safi-Harb. "When you have a black hole, it is so dense that it causes these ripples in space-time." If two black holes orbit one another and get closer and closer, they accelerate, "and that leads to really strong gravitational waves," she said. Einstein's prediction remained rooted in the theoretical realm until a decade ago, when scientists managed to observe gravitational waves for the first time through LIGO. Scientists now know of 300 black hole collisions, said Safi-Harb. The latest, dubbed GW231123, is the most massive yet. Scientists detect gravitational waves for 1st time 9 years ago Einstein theory proven more than 100 years later The original pair of black holes had masses 100 and 140 times greater than our sun, and the end product of the merge is in the range of 225 solar masses. That sounds massive, and it is, but on the spectrum of black holes it may fall somewhere in the middle. There are three classes of black holes, including those in our cosmic backyard, known as stellar mass black holes. They can be in the order of 10 to 60 times the mass of our sun. Then there are the supermassive black holes. They reside at the centres of galaxies and can be millions to billions of times more massive than our sun. Some even have names — the dark heart of our Milky Way galaxy is known as Sagittarius A. And evidence has emerged in recent years of the third class — intermediate mass black holes — that may fall between hundreds to thousands of solar masses, like GW231123 and the parent black holes that made it. The fact the parents, and GW231123, all fall into the in-between-zone is exciting — but also a bit of a head-scratcher. "These masses are believed to be 'forbidden,' or not expected to happen, because standard stellar evolution does not predict such black hole formation," said Safi-Harb. It may be that each of those parent black holes were born from mergers of even smaller black holes, said Safi-Harb. "What this discovery is teaching us is that we know that some smaller black holes can make bigger black holes, and maybe bigger black holes collide to make even bigger black holes, and if these are in dense environments, they can make things like our galaxy," she said.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Wildfire smoke leads to air quality warnings for large swath of Manitoba this weekend
Social Sharing Smoke billowing from wildfires is leading to poor air quality and reducing visibility throughout Manitoba this weekend. Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a warning Saturday morning for a large swath of Manitoba, advising people to limit their time outside and reschedule any outdoor activities due to the poor air quality. The warning covers The Pas, Thompson, Flin Flon, Dauphin and other communities in Manitoba's Interlake, north and west. The federal agency said that everyone's health is at risk during heavy smoke conditions, but pregnant people, infants, seniors and those with underlying chronic health conditions are likely to be more impacted. People may experience mild symptoms, including eye, nose and throat irritation, along with headaches or a mild cough, Environment Canada said. More serious symptoms that are less common include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. Environment Canada is advising people to keep windows and doors closed as much as possible. If you need to spend time outdoors, the federal agency recommends limiting it as much as possible, but even with reduced exposure, there can still be a risk to health. The federal agency is forecasting the air quality health index in Winnipeg will soar from a Level 2 (low risk) on Saturday morning to a "very high risk" 10+ level by the end of the day, remaining in that range during Sunday as well. Environment Canada is also expecting Brandon's air quality to worsen throughout Saturday. As of 6 a.m. on Saturday, the federal agency is forecasting the index to jump to Level 6 — the "moderate risk" range — by the afternoon from Level 2. The smoke is drifting from a number of wildfires in Manitoba that have forced the evacuation of thousands and led the province to declare its second state of emergency for the season. According to the province's latest fire bulletin, issued Friday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service was responding to 122 active wildfires across the province, which has seen a total of 317 wildfires to date, well above the average for this time of year of 231.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Canada will feel the impact ‘severely' if NASA cuts funding: expert
York University's Paul Delaney breaks down how $6-billion in cuts to NASA's funding may pave the way for China to dominate the space race. As NASA faces the threat of US$6 billion in cuts under U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request, one astronomy expert says Canada will certainly feel the impact if the drastic financial reductions go through. Paul Delaney, former director of the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory, told CTV Your Morning on Thursday the budget cuts will severely impact every single program in NASA, making it the largest financial assault on the space agency in history. In turn, it could position other countries, namely China, to take the lead in space exploration. China is swiftly pushing forward in space exploration, with plans to put humans on the moon by early 2030. 'There is little doubt that…(NASA) will take second place,' Delaney said. He also expects that the financial threat to the space agency will lead to more privatization in the sector. Delaney said the cuts to NASA's budget will directly impact not just the Canadian Space Agency, but all researchers that are involved in space science. One item that Delaney says may be on the chopping block is the latest version of the Canada Arm, or Canadarm3, which is the country's contribution to the U.S.-led Gateway project, a space station in lunar orbit. 'The impact on Canada, in terms of both hardware generation, as well as research, could be extremely significant, forcing us of course to go elsewhere to lend our expertise,' he said. Delaney adds that the fall out from the budget cuts will run deeper than putting 'boots on Mars'. 'Your cellphone technology has been powered in very large measure by the types of activities we've developed going into space,' he said. 'The spin-offs are almost incalculable.' CNN reported on Thursday that more than 2,000 agency employees are set to voluntarily leave NASA in the coming months under the Trump administration's 'deferred resignation' program, introduced by former Trump ally Elon Musk, who is CEO of NASA's largest contractor, SpaceX.
