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May/June 2006 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Futureville Sidebar: Melbourne Principles In-depth: Exploring sustainable cities Feature: Seasons of the city Feature: Environmental scientist Feature: Spotted owl Feature: Waste generation Sidebar: Household waste disposal The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Reverberations Explorer À la carte Mosaic

Funded in part by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Robichaud collected wood turtles last summer from New Brunswick’s Miramichi River watershed. Named for its textured shell, Glyptemys insculpta, or the common wood turtle, is found across eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. An adult measures about 25 centimetres in length and lives almost 30 years. Although not protected by federal or provincial legislation, it is considered a species of special concern.

Before releasing each turtle, Robichaud electronically scanned its underbelly, creating a detailed digital image that she then analyzed using software designed to measure a tree’s growth rings. Like trees, a turtle shell forms a new ring each year. If a turtle has had an especially good year of feeding and hibernation, it develops a thick growth ring.

"There are two main factors that are really important to turtle populations — habitat and temperature," says Robichaud. "And, in terms of temperature, climate change is a potential threat."

Robichaud found that unseasonal weather can significantly affect the turtle’s growth rate. When nesting occurs in late spring, hot weather slows progression.

"I actually thought that warmer temperatures in the summer would raise the turtles’ metabolic rates, making them grow faster," says Robichaud. "But that wasn’t the case."

Above-average temperatures in September also slow growth, she adds, because the warm creeks and streams interrupt the turtle’s underwater hibernation.

Robichaud’s next step is to predict what impact climate change might have on new generations of wood turtles. Growth-ring technology has provided a glimpse into the past; if trends continue, the species faces an uncertain future. "We will definitely see more research in this area," says Robichaud. "There is still so much to learn."

— Colleen Kimmett

Experience of a lifetime
When it opened in downtown Victoria in 1925, The Crystal Garden was a dance hall, a gathering place and home to the world’s largest indoor saltwater swimming pool. Later, it was a conservatory for tropical wildlife and plants. This spring, it begins its third incarnation, as the BC Experience at the Crystal Garden, a multimedia geographical discovery centre created by a partnership that includes Canadian Geographic Enterprises and several British-Columbiabased investors.

The facility’s most spectacular feature is an installation that has been built over that historic pool. Drained long ago, the old pool now boasts the world’s largest curvatureof- the-Earth relief map — a 300- square-metre section of a sphere showing northwestern North America from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to the tops of the Rocky Mountains and ranging from the Columbia River to Alaska.

"Until now," says general manager Brad Babcook, "the only way you could see British Columbia like this was through the visor of a spacesuit, or the windshield of the space shuttle."

Short films on provincial geography and history will play in the centre’s theatre, while interactive computer "exploration stations" will allow users to travel the province. Images of British Columbia cover one wall, and an integrated plasma screen broadcasts a revolving array of shots sent in by visitors and Canadian Geographic readers.

— Patricia D’Souza

Wacky weather
The maple sap was running in eastern Ontario in January, weeks ahead of schedule. It was raining in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in February, when temperatures usually hover around –20°C. And in central Yukon, there was barely enough snow for the international sled dog race known as Yukon Quest.

Are these signs of global warming or simply natural weather cycles? Canadian Geographic is seeking your tales of climate shifts. Have you witnessed wacky weather phenomena in your neck of the woods? If so, go to www.canadiangeographic.ca/surveys to share your stories.

Canada by the numbers
Why did Chinese immigrants choose to settle in particular regions of the country? How have immigration patterns changed over the past 100 years? The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has partnered with Statistics Canada to produce 39 lesson plans that will enable students across the country to answer these and other human-migration questions.

The partnership allows teachers with the Canadian Council for Geographic Education to incorporate statistical data into lesson plans on the theme of human migration. They will be available to teachers in September.

"Migration and immigration are the story of Canada," says Joel Yan, Statistics Canada’s program coordinator. "We have data and resources that can be helpful in telling the story."

Through this unique alliance, Statistics Canada is also spreading the word about the upcoming census, which takes place on May 16. Learning about the census will, in turn, allow students to discover how statistics are gathered, says Yan, and "help them understand the makeup and diversity of our country."

— Angela Johnston

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