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Earthquakes, volcanoes, oil, HST
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April 15, 2010
Extreme environment hampers rescue
Working in rough terrain and at altitudes of more than 4,000 meters above sea, rescuers of people caught in major earthquakes in China are exhausted. Matthew White, an SFU environmental physiologist and an expert on how extreme environments affect human performance, can comment on what the rescuers face in terms of altitudinal challenges and how they should deal with them.
Matthew White, 778.782.3344, 778.782.6805, matt@sfu.ca
Volcano halts air traffic
SFU volcano expert Glyn Williams-Jones says, “Volcanic ash advisory centres worldwide and airlines don’t make a decision to cancel 5,000 or more flights lightly.” Williams-Jones can explain why plumes of glass-like rock spewing up from a volcano in Iceland have motivated airlines across Europe to stop flying.
Glyn Williams-Jones, 778.240.3306 (cell), glynwj@sfu.ca
Wildlife still exposed to Exxon oil
Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, oil is still showing up in Alaskan wildlife. SFU research associate Dan Esler has published his ongoing study of the disaster’s effects on harlequin ducks in the April issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He found that the impact of spills is not limited to a few years but can last for decades. Esler’s earlier findings 15 years after the 1989 disaster were also published in Science.
Dan Esler, 604.940.4652, desler@sfu.ca
Harmonizing tax inciting disharmony
Consumers are responding to marketing campaigns that urge them to buy consumer items before federal legislation legalizes a proposed harmonized sales tax (HST). The new tax would amalgamate the current seven per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent federal goods and services tax, creating a 12 per cent HST. SFU marketing analyst Lindsay Meredith says fear mongering ad campaigns are driving consumers to renovate and buy big-ticket items now before they attract a larger tax bill.
Lindsay Meredith, 778.782.5554; 604.842.6007 (cell)
Working in rough terrain and at altitudes of more than 4,000 meters above sea, rescuers of people caught in major earthquakes in China are exhausted. Matthew White, an SFU environmental physiologist and an expert on how extreme environments affect human performance, can comment on what the rescuers face in terms of altitudinal challenges and how they should deal with them.
Matthew White, 778.782.3344, 778.782.6805, matt@sfu.ca
Volcano halts air traffic
SFU volcano expert Glyn Williams-Jones says, “Volcanic ash advisory centres worldwide and airlines don’t make a decision to cancel 5,000 or more flights lightly.” Williams-Jones can explain why plumes of glass-like rock spewing up from a volcano in Iceland have motivated airlines across Europe to stop flying.
Glyn Williams-Jones, 778.240.3306 (cell), glynwj@sfu.ca
Wildlife still exposed to Exxon oil
Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, oil is still showing up in Alaskan wildlife. SFU research associate Dan Esler has published his ongoing study of the disaster’s effects on harlequin ducks in the April issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He found that the impact of spills is not limited to a few years but can last for decades. Esler’s earlier findings 15 years after the 1989 disaster were also published in Science.
Dan Esler, 604.940.4652, desler@sfu.ca
Harmonizing tax inciting disharmony
Consumers are responding to marketing campaigns that urge them to buy consumer items before federal legislation legalizes a proposed harmonized sales tax (HST). The new tax would amalgamate the current seven per cent provincial sales tax with the five per cent federal goods and services tax, creating a 12 per cent HST. SFU marketing analyst Lindsay Meredith says fear mongering ad campaigns are driving consumers to renovate and buy big-ticket items now before they attract a larger tax bill.
Lindsay Meredith, 778.782.5554; 604.842.6007 (cell)