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'We're sounding the alarm': half of Canada's chinook salmon endangered

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THE Guardian A chinook salmon. Photo by US Fish & Wildlife Service. Prospects for species look dire as federal science body finds that only one of Canada's16 populations is believed to be stable. STORY HERE.

If you're a farmer who generously applies certain pesticides to your crops - losing your sense of smell has just taken on a whole new meaning. It could foreshadow health problems down the road.

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Decades of  research  - recently published - has found a significant link between a chronic loss of smell (olfactory impairment or "OI") among American farmers, and their high exposure to certain chemicals they applied to their fields. Far from being a minor ailment, "OI" has long been identified as one of the earliest and most important symptoms of several neurological diseases,  including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. by Larry Powell The human "olfactory" system governs  our sense of smell. Image - public domain. Beginning in the '90s, a team of US scientists surveyed more than 11 thousand farmers from Iowa and North Carolina. They were asked about their experiences with farm chemicals during their lifetimes. In 2015, there was a follow-up survey. Almost 12 hundred (10.6%) reported they had either lost, or significantly lost, their sense of smell. And those who reported incidents of unusually high exposure to pesticides during

World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity

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The Guardian Plants, insects and organisms crucial to food production in steep decline, says UN. Story here. A display of harvesting "might" in Canada. 

African swine fever (ASF) would be a disaster

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There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet By Alexis Kienlen FOLLOW Reporter Alberta farmer -  February 11, 2019 These red spots are typical of African swine fever.   A Wikimedia photo. There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts.

Mexico’s monarch population booms

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Science Magazine IN SECTION: NEWS IN BRIEF Edited by Jeffrey Brainard Opens in modal lightbox Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in  Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK   PHOTO Viewable Image - mexicos monarch population booms Image Caption Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Angangueo, Mexico.   PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Every winter, monarch butterflies in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States flock to the pine and fir forests of central Mexico to hibernate, covering trees and turning hectares of forest orange and black. This year, the butterfly population overwintering in Mexico more than doubled, according to World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which helps lead the annual count. The butterflies covered 6.05 hectares of forest, up from 2.48 last year. It’s the largest wintering area since the winter of 2006–07. This famous group of migrating monarchs has been struggling in recent years, with an all-time low arriving

Human Hunting Is Driving the World’s Biggest Animals Toward Extinction

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Smithsonian.com "Moose may soon disappear completely from some parts of Manitoba, Canada, where   the population has dropped by as much as 57 percent ." Source CPAWS MB. A PinP photo. A new analysis found that 70 percent of Earth’s largest creatures are decreasing in number, while 59 percent are at risk of extinction. Story here.