A2 RED DEER ADVOCATE Monday, Jan. 13, 2014
STORIES FROM PAGE A1
ARCTIC: Threats exist
VACCINE: Some reserved Children under nine who are receiving seasonal influenza vaccine for the first time require two doses. Vaccine has also been reserved to address specif-
Contributed photos
Above: University of Alberta professor Andrew Derocher with a mother and two one-yearold cubs on the sea ice of the Beaufort Sea near Ulukhaktok, N.W.T. in April 2012. He was collecting samples for pollution analyses, genetics, and deploying radio collars to follow the bears by satellite relative to sea ice conditions. Right: Derocher takes measurements of an immobilized polar bear as part a monitoring study in the southern Beaufort Sea, N.W.T., in April 2011. ic outbreaks in health care centres and continuing care sites. Dr. Digby Horne, a medical officer of health for AHS Central Zone, said one outbreak was reported at Rimbey Hospital and Care Centre about two weeks ago and impacted a few people. As of Friday, Central Zone has seen 258 lab-confirmed influenza cases, 28 hospitalizations including five in ICU. There have been no deaths for seasonal flu in Central Zone. Across the province there have been eight deaths, 1,708 cases, and 390 hospitalizations including 91 in ICU. He said this season H1N1 is causing 96 per cent of all influenza infections which is affecting more young adults and those in middle age. Over 1.2 million people have been immunized across the province. As of last Thursday, 81,047 people were immunized in Central Zone. Albertans are encouraged to be vigilant in preventing the spread of the disease by covering their nose and mouth when they cough, washing their
Man arrested in 2012 slaying of girl BY THE CANADIAN PRESS KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Charges have been laid in connection with the slaying of a 16-year-old B.C. girl whose body was discovered in a ravine one year ago. Summer Star Elizabeth KristaLee Fowler — also known as C.J. — was found dead in Kamloops on December 2012, though Mounties never revealed how the teen was killed. RCMP announced on Sunday that investigators arrested 22-year-old Damien Taylor in Kel-
LOTTERIES
owna on Friday, one day after an arrest warrant was issued. Supt. Brad Mueller said Taylor and Fowler were both from the Terrace area, and that they had travelled to Kamloops together to visit friends. “Mr. Taylor and Ms. Fowler were known to each other and were considered to be in a dating relationship,” Mueller said at a news conference. Police said Fowler, a member of the Gitanmaax First Nation, was last seen leaving a local hospital in the early morning on Dec.
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5, 2012, and walking down a street to catch a bus back to Terrace. Her body was found hours later near Guerin Creek. Fowler’s parents appeared at Sunday’s news conference, expressing relief and thanking police for their work. “We both actually wanted to just thank God also, because we prayed day and night —before we went to bed, before we got up in the morning,” said Fowler’s father John Wilson. “Our prayers and thoughts have been answered.”
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WEATHER LOCAL TODAY
TONIGHT
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
HIGH -4
LOW -9
HIGH 3
HIGH 2
HIGH -1
Snow.
Clear.
A mix of sun and cloud.
Sunny.
Sunny.
REGIONAL OUTLOOK Ponoka, Innisfail, Stettler: Snow. High -4, low -9. Nordegg: Snow. High 4, low -4. Edmonton : Snow. High -2, low -5. Banff: Snow or rain. High -3, low -4.
FORT MCMURRAY
Grande Prairie: A mix of sun and cloud. High -2, low -4.
Jasper: Light snow. High -1, low -2.
steady, -18 GRANDE PRAIRIE
-2/-4
EDMONTON
-2/-5 JASPER
-1/-2
RED DEER
Calgary: Snow. High -2, low -3.
WINDCHILL/SUNLIGHT
-4/-9
One of two RCMP officers injured in an armed confrontation on a farm east of Edmonton on Jan. 6 was a former Ponoka-area resident. A close friend of the family confirmed for the Advocate on Sunday that Vegreville RCMP Cpl. Travis Ogilvie had been injured near Vegreville. The officer was struck by a truck driven by the suspect who had been hiding in a shed. Ogilvie suffered broken bones and internal injuries and underwent surgery at an Edmonton hospital Tuesday afternoon. Another officer had his arm grazed by a bullet.
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-3/-4 Windchill/frostbite risk: Low Low: Low risk Moderate: 30 minutes exposure High -5 to 10 minutes: High risk in 5 to 10 minutes High -2 to 5 minutes: High risk in 2 to 5 minutes Extreme: High risk in 2 minutes Sunset tonight: 4:49 p.m. Sunrise Tuesday: 8:38 a.m.
Wounded Mountie was from Ponoka area
TONIGHT’S HIGHS/LOWS
Lethbridge: Cloudy. High -3, low -4.
Fort McMurray: Snow. Steady near -18.
hands regularly, keeping their hands away from their eyes, nose and mouth, and staying home if they are sick. Horne said people can be contagious for about a day before they develop symptoms and are no longer contagious after five days from the onset of symptoms. “We do know influenza can cause complications with people with no underlying risk factors so it is important to monitor themselves.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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Derocher has over 30 years of field research experience in the Canadian Arctic, western Russia, and islands off Norway. He said the only remnant of sea ice will be the very high reach of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern Greenland and then it will be a question of whether that small population has bears viable enough to reproduce to sustain the species until humans hopefully get greenhouse gases under control so the planet can start to cool down again. Right now about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears exist globally, which is more than there were 30 years ago, but when sea ice is gone, so are the seals that polar bears hunt, he said. “It’s very much like when we look at species in the tropics in the Amazon Rainforest. We know if we cut down the Amazon Rainforest, the species that depend on those habitats will disappear. It’s no different for polar bears.” Other threats also exist. “There are very high levels of pollution in every polar bear in the Arctic. “So high that for other species at this pollution level, they would have stopped reproducing already. These are long distance, transported pollutants and these are industrial chemicals, agricultural chemicals, that basically bounce their way up to the Arctic and then end up getting into the marine food chain.” He said rising mercury levels in some parts of the Arctic tied to coal burning is a concern along with potential spills from offshore oil and gas development and an increase in shipping traffic. Population decline of polar bears has led to a jump in the price of their hides which makes excessive hunting an issue. But climate change remains the single biggest threat to their survival, Derocher said. “My guess is as the science becomes clear and the solutions become more viable — basically technological solutions to get us away from the reliance on greenhouse gas producing hydrocarbons — we’ll probably see changes. The question is will we change in time to slow or reduce the amount of warming or not. “I’m absolutely convinced we can do it. We’re not going to stop using fossil fuels and we’re not going to stop developing the oil sands. But down the road we have to find ways to use those resources more wisely and greatly reduce our carbon footprint and there are lots of ways to do that.” People’s enthusiasm to protect the polar bear could help encourage them to combat global warming. Canadians, in particular, do take pride in the bears that Derocher calls “the original beauty and the beast.” “There is this sort of attraction that we have. They are sort of this drop-dead gorgeous animal. At the same time we know that they are dangerous.” Polar bears have almost a mystical allure for people and their image is everywhere — from toys to logos to the Toonie, Derocher said. “Most people do think of Canada as sort of a polar bear nation and we actually have about two-thirds of the world’s polar bears under our jurisdiction.” szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com