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CBC
3 days ago
- Science
- CBC
Study finds impacts of colonization destroyed nearly 90% of Burrard Inlet food ecosystems
Social Sharing Michelle George's family has stories of the fish in the Burrard Inlet being so plentiful they stopped ships from sailing further into the water. "You could walk across the backs of [the fish] to get to the other side of the river," George said. "After dynamite fishing, it was completely wiped out." A new research study, in partnership with the səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation and the University of B.C., has found the impacts of colonization from as early as 1750, including smallpox, overfishing and industrialization, destroyed nearly 90 per cent of the food systems and sources in the Burrard Inlet in Metro Vancouver. Ecosystems 'devastated' Researchers say, to their knowledge, the study is the first attempt to quantify the impacts of colonization on an ecosystem. "After contact, our homes were devastated. Our lives were devastated, and so was the ecology around us," said George, co-author and cultural and technical specialist with the Tsleil-Waututh. Added co-author and Michelle's father, Micheal George (spelled Micheal), a cultural adviser with Tsleil-Waututh, "You go from hearing stories of abundance, you know, a wide variety of seafoods, to nearly nothing." WATCH | Study authors speak about impact of colonization: Study finds colonization destroyed 90% of food ecosystem in Burrard Inlet 23 days ago A new study from the University of B.C. and the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation found that smallpox, overfishing and rapid industrialization devastated the traditional foods of First Nations in the area. Study co-author Micheal George said his people went from hearing stories of abundance to "nearly nothing," while his daughter and another co-author, Michelle, said it shows the need for habitat restoration. Micheal said community members were eating clams on the Inlet's beach until about 1972. "I'm talking about eating clams on the beach, getting the water from the Inlet and boiling it right on the beach — to not being able to touch it at all." Studying the period between 1750 and 1980, the article draws on archeology, historical ecology, archival records and Tsleil-Waututh science. The research model estimated that in 1750 — 42 years before European contact — the Tsleil-Waututh harvested more than 2,200 tonnes of food from the inlet every year, including clams, herring, chum salmon, birds and crabs, according to a Tsleil-Waututh news release on the study. But many of those species, including herring, sturgeon and halibut, were all "extirpated" — meaning locally exterminated — from the Burrard Inlet. Keeping an eye on herring, a small fish with a big impact on the Pacific's ecosystem 3 months ago The Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative and the Squamish First Nation have teamed up to study Pacific herring, a species which almost went extinct in the 1960s but has made a comeback in recent years. CBC's Camille Vernet explains why the fish plays an important role in balancing the Pacific's ecosystem. Fishing with dynamite Herring was extirpated as settler fisheries used dynamite fishing between 1885 and 1915. The dynamite fishing, in which settlers would throw dynamite off a wharf into the water, was a preferred method for fishing herring, according to a 2023 study on the collapse of forage fish in Vancouver. The UBC study also highlighted the particular cultural importance of Pacific herring as a food source for many First Nations in B.C. and as an ecologically keystone species. "Herring and salmon are two of the pillars of traditional səl̓ilwətaɬ diets and the loss of herring and salmon biomass in the [Burrard Inlet] ecosystem represents a loss to səl̓ilwətaɬ lifeways and food sovereignty," according to the study. Researchers also considered the impact of smallpox, noting reports indicated two smallpox waves killed between 50 and 90 per cent of the Tsleil-Waututh community. "The model showed a dramatic change in ecosystem state as soon as the 1782 CE smallpox epidemic hits, reducing the səl̓ilwətaɬ population by 80 per cent, from 10,000 to 2,000," said the report. Following the epidemics, the report says the settler population and environmental impacts increased. The study also noted that because the dramatic loss in certain fish populations happened before the baseline states of the inlet were established, the Western scientific understanding of the inlet's biodiversity has been based on a reduced state. "Where we are now is already at a level of devastation," Michelle George said. 'Tremendous loss' Bruce Miller, an emeritus professor of anthropology at UBC, said he's not surprised by the study's findings. "It's an important piece of work," he said. Miller said his work locally, as well as in the Gulf Islands and Puget Sound, also shows a "tremendous loss" of foreshore and species. "It's a message to the larger population that they're the people of this region, that they've been the stewards of it, that they're aware of what's happened." He noted Canada has a constitutional obligation to uphold Indigenous rights and way of life, and said a recent court case found the cumulative impact of a series of industrial developments violated the Treaty 8 rights of the Blueberry River First Nations in northern B.C. "[The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is] saying, 'We have a right to show you what the cumulative effects are,'" Miller said. "And, man, have they shown what the cumulative effects are. That's why this is important." Michelle George still has hope for the future of the Inlet. She said the community has been transplanting eel grass there, which she hopes will benefit the forage fish. Herring are returning too, Michelle said — and orcas. "I think the killer whales coming back is a huge sign, related to the herring, and then also just the … entire food web."
National Observer
11-08-2025
- Science
- National Observer
Study maps 'megathrust' quake zone off northern BC, but risk likely to be far in future
Scientists have captured the first detailed images of the meeting of two tectonic plates off the coast of northern British Columbia, an area they say has the potential to generate the largest "megathrust" earthquakes and tsunamis. The images confirm what appears to be a rare geological occurrence, a subduction zone in its "infancy," the study by US and Canadian researchers shows. The paper, in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, says the Queen Charlotte plate boundary features the beginnings of such a zone, where one plate slides under the other. The plate boundary that extends from the southern tip of Haida Gwaii to southeast Alaska was the site of Canada's two largest earthquakes in recent history — a magnitude-8.1 quake in 1949 and the magnitude-7.8 quake in 2012. Co-author Michael Bostock, a professor in the department of earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences at the University of BC, says it's likely the area will see more "thrust" quakes, and the next one could be larger as the fault grows. The good news for people living on BC's north coast, he says, is that a quake of similar magnitude to the one in 2012 isn't likely for several hundred years. "In a sense, the concern is passed, at least for the next few generations of people." The quake in 1949 was caused by tectonic plates moving side by side along a fault, known as a "strike-slip" earthquake. These are far less likely to produce tsunamis. The 2012 quake, meanwhile, bore hallmarks of subduction, which produces the largest megathrust quakes. But until the study published last month, there was no detailed imaging confirming it, says Bostock. "Megathrust is just a fancy name for a thrust fault, a shallow-dipping thrust fault, where subduction is taking place. So, yes, what we're imaging here is a nascent megathrust." Recent megathrust earthquakes include last month's 8.8-magnitude quake off the coast of southeast Russia, and the massive quakes that triggered devastating tsunamis off Japan in 2011 and Indonesia in 2004. Prior to the 2012 quake off Haida Gwaii, researchers had been debating whether subduction was a feature of the Queen Charlotte plate boundary, Bostock says. The quake strongly suggested an "under-thrusting fault," and the detailed imaging has confirmed it, he says. "The geometry of the Haida Gwaii thrust suggests that larger thrust earthquakes could nucleate along the margin and that tsunamis could be more common, both of which substantially increase the hazard of the region," the paper says. The site is a "rare example" of the beginnings of subduction, with the imaging "capturing this fundamental tectonic process in its infancy," it says. Still, it says the future of the Queen Charlotte plate boundary is uncertain. "While it has efficiently evolved to its current state, subduction initiation can fail at any stage before self-sustained subduction is reached; thus, the (plate boundary) evolving to this point does not guarantee a future outcome," the paper says. Bostock says there's debate about how quickly the Pacific plate is moving into the North American plate, but it's somewhere between 1/2 and 2 1/2 centimetres per year, along a roughly 200-kilometre stretch off the Haida Gwaii coast. By contrast, the Cascadia subduction zone spans about 1,000 kilometres from northern Vancouver Island to northern California, and the tectonic plates are converging at a faster rate, closer to four centimetres per year, he says. The Cascadia zone is expected to produce a massive quake sometime in the next 200 to 500 years — but that's not likely at the Haida Gwaii site, Bostock says. "So, because it's a smaller fault area, and because the convergence is smaller, something like half as much as it is in Cascadia ... we're not likely to have another big (megathrust) earthquake off of Haida Gwaii in the near future." The relatively smaller size of the fault off Haida Gwaii limits the size of quakes it may produce, Bostock adds. The 7.8 quake in 2012 is "probably as big as we're likely to get, unless the zone grows bigger," which it may do over a long period of time, he says. The quake in 2012 rattled much of north-central BC, including Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert and Quesnel, and triggered a tsunami warning for coastal areas. It also altered the flow and temperature of culturally important hot springs on a small island within the southeast Haida Gwaii archipelago. Lindsay Worthington, another co-author of the paper, says the site offers a "natural laboratory" for the study of plate boundaries, describing it as "one of the only places on the planet" where researchers can observe subduction in its infancy. The images were captured in "unprecedented" detail by dragging a 15-kilometre-long hydrophone array behind a ship. "Without knowing really what the subsurface looks like, there's only so much that you can infer," says Worthington, a professor in the department of earth and planetary sciences at the University of New Mexico. "Now that we have these pretty definite geometries ... we can have better understanding of what types of events happened in the past, and then that gives you insights into what's possible in the future." While a giant earthquake is not imminent off Haida Gwaii, Worthington says the Queen Charlotte plate boundary is still "the largest natural hazard in Canada."
CTV News
30-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Vancouver now home to fastest PET/CT scanner in Canada
BC Cancer has rolled out a new diagnostic tool that it says is the fastest and most advanced of its kind in Canada. A new cancer screening machine that recently began operating at the BC Cancer Centre in Vancouver is the fastest and most advanced in Canada, according to officials. The Quadra PET/CT scanner is the first of its kind in the country, and it can capture a much larger picture than previous generations and is about 22 times more sensitive. 'It is the equivalent of four PET scanners put together, and essentially the area covers from the head to the pelvis,' said Dr. François Bénard, senior research director at BC Cancer and radiology professor at the University of B.C. 'We can image this entire area of the body in one shot, so you can do things that we could not do before.' In a nutshell, the new scanners give better quality images in less time and requires less radioactive drugs than previous machines, he told CTV News. A PET/CT scanner combines two imaging devices, positron emission technology, which looks at biochemistry, and computed tomography, which provides anatomical information. A PET scan requires an injection of a radioactive substance called a tracer, while a conventional CT scan does not. B.C. is home to three PET/CT machines, in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna. Notably, the new Quadra machine is the fastest of its kind, which means more scans can be performed and patients get a more comfortable experience. Bénard says it can take more time to position a patient in the machine than take the picture itself. 'When I started my career, it would take two hours to take a PET scan, now we can get a better PET/CT scan in less than 30 seconds,' he said. Bénard added that those getting a PET scan on an older machine need not worry—they are also very precise. 'If you're not getting a PET scan on that machine you should be reassured. BC Cancer has very modern instruments at other sites,' he said. What this new scanner will do right away is add capacity for more diagnostics and provide research opportunities in the radiopharmaceutical field at UBC, according to Bénard. In May, the BC Cancer Centre in Vancouver also got a state-of-the-art photon-counting CT scanner. With files from CTV News Vancouver's Spencer Harwood
CBC
27-06-2025
- CBC
School zones won't be 24/7, 'disreputable' websites are sharing misinformation: B.C. RCMP
Rules around school zones aren't changing on July 1, contrary to what some "disreputable websites" are claiming, says the B.C. RCMP's Highway Patrol. The posted speed limit in school zones is 30 km/h and is in effect from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on school days, unless the sign indicates otherwise, according to provincial law. Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said police have been receiving questions about "persistent rumours" that school zone speed limits across Canada will be in effect 24/7 starting on Canada Day. "These rumours are false. They are not true, but they are a bit sticky — especially on social media," he said. McLaughlin noted there are a few clues that indicate the rumours were never legitimate. One "red flag," he said, is that the rumour said federal laws were changing when traffic laws are mandated primarily by provinces. "And all of these complicated changes happening at once rather quickly – another red flag." McLaughlin said some police research showed a website in India appeared to be one of the early sources of the rumour, but it wasn't clear if it was repeating false information that was already online. He said social media and online artificial intelligence, including those found through search engines, are amplifying the misinformation. Harder to find facts, says misinformation expert Heidi Tworek, a professor and director for the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at the University of B.C., said it's unfortunate but not surprising that AI could be misleading the public. As AI becomes increasingly common, it's harder to determine whether information is trustworthy or not, she said. And it's particularly concerning from a Canadian perspective, as the incident shows certain AI has not been programmed to prioritize more trustworthy sources such as government websites. "That really opens the door to more misinformation," said Tworek. She noted search engines like Google are frequently putting AI-generated answers at the top of search results. But Tworek added it's easy for bad actors to create a website — or 20 — with low-quality information, which is then harvested by AI. "If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out," she said. AI-generated search results summarize what exists online, but don't necessarily prioritize high-quality information, according to Tworek. She suggested scrolling past them to find direct, primary sources of information. Tworek also recommended asking a chatbot for its sources, particularly for important information like traffic laws. McLaughlin agreed. "Be thoughtful about what you're repeating, and if it doesn't seem like it's real and there are problems with the information, then don't repeat them," he said.
CBC
26-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Vancouver's new urban forest strategy faces challenges, academic says
The city wants to increase tree coverage by 5% in 25 years, but development pressures could cause challenges Caption: Trees are pictured in the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver. The city has approved an ambitious new urban forest strategy, but a forestry professor says it faces hurdles. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Vancouver councillors have approved an updated plan for growing the city's urban forest, but a forestry professor says there are challenges ahead. The city's goal is to increase its canopy cover – how much of the city is covered by leaves and branches when seen from above – from about 25 per cent of the city to 30 per cent by 2050, according to the updated urban forest strategy. The plan sets a target to plant about 165,000 new trees over the next 25 years, and encourages residents to plant trees in their own backyards. And while the plan has drawn praise from one expert, both city councillors and staff have acknowledged there will be difficulties in meeting the goals set out in the report. Stephen Sheppard, a professor emeritus at the University of B.C.'s forestry faculty, said Vancouver's 30 per cent canopy cover target is very achievable – but he noted there is cause for concern. "There are a lot of threats to this," he said. In the wake of the B.C. government pushing hard for cities to increase housing density, Sheppard advised councillors to minimize the loss of existing urban trees when approving rezoning proposals. "It would make sense to provide strong guidelines on how to protect and manage and include trees into these densification projects," Sheppard said. "We could be increasing the height, but reducing the floor space that the buildings take up and saving that root space for trees. That's really important." The professor says that the city needs to set clear targets and put out stronger messaging to incentivize private property owners to plant trees and care for them, adding that trees can help cool down neighbourhoods and reduce climate change impacts. "Planting programs for front and back yards that encourages and educates people about what the benefits are, what the right tree might be for them — a lot more effort has to go into that to make it feasible," he said. Urban development and trees Sheppard said the 30 per cent target is the minimum required. "Forty per cent is like the gold standard – but that might be difficult in Vancouver," he said. Both Metro Vancouver and Toronto have a 40 per cent target by 2050, while Seattle's goal is 30 per cent canopy cover by 2037, according to the city staff presentation. Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said the 30 per cent goal by 2050 seemed far away. "I do want to encourage us to … be realistic about the challenge in delivering on that goal, but be a bit more aggressive," she said. City challenges Joe McLeod, the city's associate director of urban forestry, said the plan has a variety of benefits, including improving wildlife habitat and residents' health. "There's also evidence to suggest that people's willingness to spend in retail districts with robust urban forests is increased," he told council. But the official acknowledged the last five per cent of the 30 per cent goal is going to be harder to make happen. "The cream has been skimmed off the top, so to speak," he said, saying that from 2010 to 2020, the city had capitalized on all of the inexpensive tree-planting spots. "Now we're getting into the harder to reach areas," McLeod added. He noted one of the challenges to planting new trees in areas like the Downtown Eastside, which lack tree canopy, is the cost of creating new tree pits, which can cost between $15,000 and $20,000 each. "It is a costly endeavour, but it improves the public realm and obviously provides great benefits to the community," McLeod said. Equity issues Multiple councillors pointed out the stark divide in canopy cover between neighbourhoods. Shaughnessy has 41 per cent tree canopy cover, while Strathcona — which includes the Downtown Eastside — has only nine per cent. The difference can be particularly significant during heat waves, according to the staff report, which says that vulnerable populations in low canopy areas faced a higher risk of heat-related deaths. Coun. Mike Klassen asked staff to explore how to reduce urban heat islands in neighbourhoods with minimal tree canopy cover, including a "GreenShades" system that suspends large sails with planted greenery over streets.
