Innovation Anthology #158: General Manager of Research and Development

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The continued loss of sea ice in the high Arctic due to global warming is dramatically changing the marine environment for organisms that live there.

Dr. David Barber likens it to the mass removal of trees in the Amazon rainforest.

A specialist in Arctic systems at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Barber is stationed on the icebreaker Amundsen to research the impact of this change.

DR. DAVID BARBER: We’re studying everything in that system physically from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the atmosphere and everything in the biological system from viruses right through to whales, And unfortunately what we’re finding is that everything is connected in the Arctic system. And as soon as you start changing a fundamental part of the physical system like the sea ice, you affect everything else. So the marine ecosystem is in difficult straits in the Arctic because of this metamorphosis that’s going on. And what’s really got us concerned is that the rate is increasing much more quickly in the last few years,

Dr. Barber’s research suggests we are already past the tipping point, and there is no reversing climate change or its impact on Arctic marine life.

Thanks today to the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

Guest

David Lynch,

Enerkem, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, dlynch@enerkem.com

Sponsor

Canada Foundation for Innovation

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure—state-of-the-art equipment, laboratories, databases, and the buildings necessary to conduct research. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.

Since its creation in 1997, CFI investments in research infrastructure have lead to breakthroughs in areas such as health, natural resources, information and communications technology, energy, and the environment.

La Fondation canadienne pour l’innovation (FCI) est un organisme autonome créé par le gouvernement du Canada pour financer l’infrastructure de recherche—l’équipement de pointe, les laboratoires, les bases de données de même que les bâtiments nécessaires pour mener des travaux de recherche. Le mandat de la FCI est de renforcer la capacité des universités, des collèges et des hôpitaux de recherche, de même que des établissements de recherche à but non lucratif du Canada de mener des projets de recherche et de développement technologique de calibre mondial qui produisent des retombées pour les Canadiens.

Depuis la création de la FCI en 1997, les investissements qu’elle a faits dans l’infrastructure ont mené à des percées dans des domaines tels que la santé, les ressources naturelles, les technologies de l’information et des communications, l’énergie et l’environnement.

Program Date: 2008-08-07