Harperites disband ozone monitoring group

Thousands of people have avoided getting skin cancer thanks to Canadian scientists who invented the UV index and the gold-standard tool for measuring the thickness of the Earth's ozone layer. But now Canada's ozone science group no longer exists, victim of government budget cuts.

"Everyone who was still left in the ozone group has been re-assigned," said Prof Thomas Duck of the department of Physics and Atmospheric Science at Canada's Dalhousie University.

Canada's 'pearl' of Arctic research hit with funding freeze

Atmospheric scientist Pierre Fogal headed north in February to help check on Earth's protective ozone layer high in the Arctic stratosphere.

But he spent much of his time on his knees dealing with burst water pipes and frozen sewer lines at Canada's beleaguered Arctic research station.

Then this week, the electrical system malfunctioned, says Fogal, site manager for PEARL, the Polar Environmental Atmospheric Research Laboratory at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.

The station, now limping along at half power and a chilly 10 C inside, is one of the world's premier observatories for tracking the health of the Arctic atmosphere. The station houses millions of dollars worth of scientific equipment used to monitor the ozone layer, greenhouse gases and pollution swirling around the polar vortex.

But it has been a bad year. Unusually frigid weather has taken a big toll on the station's plumbing and power system, and the chilly financial wind blowing out of Ottawa has left PEARL in dire financial straits.

Canada's air pollution experts moved to 'other priorities'

Environment Canada has drastically cut back on its monitoring of air pollution that can cause health problems for Canadians, reassigning scientists involved in that monitoring to "other priorities."

In an email to CBC News, a department spokesman says Environment Canada is still providing "world class analysis" and will continue to "monitor the ozone through other means," but did not provide details on what those are.

The department was responding to recent warnings by leading atmospheric scientists that Canada's cuts to its ozone monitoring program are affecting the world's ability to monitor air quality and ozone depletion.

On Monday, five scientists from high-profile U.S. universities and NASA released a scathing critique of Canada's cuts to its ozone monitoring, saying it is jeopardizing the world's ability to watch for holes in the ozone layer and pollutants high in the atmosphere. The paper was published in the Eos, the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union that represents 61,000 Earth and space scientists from around the world. Information gathered in Canada feeds into worldwide networks.

Canada Dropping The Ozone Ball, Scientists Warn

Leading atmospheric scientists are warning that Canada's cuts to its ozone monitoring program are already having effects on the world's ability to monitor air quality and ozone depletion.

Five scientists from high-profile U.S. universities and NASA say in a recently-released paper that Canada is jeopardizing the scientific community's ability to monitor for holes in the ozone, especially over the Arctic. They point out that monitoring has already stopped in five locations in Canada and the website that distributed the information has been pulled down.

"Canada is a bellwether for environmental change, not only for Arctic ozone depletion but also for pollutants that stream to North America from other continents," Anne Thompson, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University, said in a release. "It's unthinkable that data collection is beginning to shut down in this vast country."

The five scientists published their paper in Eos, the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union, which represents 61,000 earth and space scientists from around the world.

Ozone gaffe shows Tories favour ‘spin over science,’ Trudeau says

Justin Trudeau figured he’d be made to look the fool but instead it was Environment Minister Peter Kent, who couldn’t answer the simple question as to what is ozone.

And Mr. Trudeau, the Montreal Liberal MP, told The Globe Tuesday he’s “sure now that Minister Kent will deepen his knowledge of his extremely important file.”

“It just worries me that this government consistently prioritizes politics and spin over science and facts,” Mr. Trudeau said. “Canadians deserve better.”

Too tightly scripted and perhaps caught off guard, the Environment Minister stumbled in the Commons Monday when the Montreal Liberal asked him to “explain to the House what ozone is and what is the difference between its impact at low altitude and high altitude?”