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Australia suffers hottest summer on record, little relief in sight

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PHYS ORG Drought in Quensland, 2014.  Btcpg Australia suffered its hottest summer on record from December through February and forecasts show the southern autumn will continue to be drier and warmer than average, the government said Thursday. Story here. FOOTNOTE:  Australia's annual emissions continue to rise, driven by LNG production.  Emissions for the year to September 2018 up 0.9% as Morrison government attempts a policy pivot on climate. The Guardian.

Nearly 50% of transport pollution deaths linked to diesel: study

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PHYS ORG A diesel truck in Canada. A PinP photo. Some 385,000 people worldwide died prematurely in 2015 from air pollution caused by vehicle exhaust emissions, a US study found Wednesday, which singled out diesel engines as the main culprit. Story here.

'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.