Scientists Nearly Double Sea Level Rise Projections For 2100

The Washington Post

Sea levels could rise nearly twice as much as previously predicted by the end of this century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, an outcome that could devastate coastal communities around the globe, according to new research published Wednesday. 

The main reason? Antarctica. Details here.

Stop a Logging Assault On Quebec's Boreal Forest

Natural Resources Defense Council

Clearcut logging in BC - Photo by TJ Watt

Canadian logging companies are pushing a plan that could destroy some 3 million acres of pristine wilderness in Quebec's Broadback River valley, one of the largest and last remaining untouched stretches of the boreal forest. More here.

RELATED:  

• SAVE the BROADBACK
• "Only “Heroic Efforts” Will Spare Earth’s Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change - Experts."

Federal Bill For Flooding on the Canadian Prairies an "Outsized Expense," Says Budget Watchdog

Manitoba Co-Operator

Report points to provincial shortcomings as possible reasons for large annual expenditures. More here.

Roundup Ready Alfalfa Primed for Launch in Eastern Canada

Manitoba Co-Operator

PinP photo.

"HarvXtra" will also include a trait meant to ease hay digestion. More here.

A Tale of Two Provinces: Environmental Rights Legislation in Manitoba and Ontario

EcoJustice

Manitoba’s proposed Environmental Rights Act puts pressure on Ontario to improve its Environmental Bill of Rights. More here.

Are Shell’s 'Zombie' Permits Blocking Arctic Protection?

Greenpeace Canada.

Remember last year when a global movement of millions kicked Shell out of the Alaskan Arctic? Well, guess which company is back in the spotlight again for its devious deeds: yes, it’s Shell, but this time it’s the Canadian Arctic where the oil giant is up to no good. More here.

Washington Post

A striking new study – but one that is bound to prove controversial – has provided a calculation of both the health benefits and the reductions in planetary greenhouse gases that might be achieved if the world shifted away from meat-based diets. More here.

'There Was Just no Snow': Climate Change Puts Iditarod Future in Doubt

theguardian

After record high winter temperatures reduced parts of the course to a bone-jarring, sled-wrecking obstacle course, is the great mushing race on its way out? More here.

Year of the Animal. (Viideo)

Year of the Animal from National Observer on Vimeo.

Global Warming’s Terrifying New Chemistry

The Nation By Bill McKibben

Fracking rig. By Battenbrook Wickimeda Commons.

Our leaders thought fracking would save our climate. They were wrong. Very wrong. More here.

Christy Clark Taps Ex-Fraser Institute Director to Create BC's Climate Change Plan

PressProgress

Premier Clark

First the good news:

After spending months ignoring the recommendations put forward by British Columbia's Climate Leadership team, Premier Christy Clark has finally found someone to take charge of this very important file.  

Bad news? His experience includes serving as a director at the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank whose experts question the science of climate change. Story here.

Is Modern Agriculture Threatening Traditional First Nations Food and Medicine? (Story & Video)

by Larry Powell  

(A PinP exclusive.)

First Nations researchers in Manitoba sound a warning note.

Deformed berries in the study area. 

Standing Medicine People Project photo.

                                                                                  

They call it “The Standing Medicine People Project.”  

Researchers from three reserves in south-central Manitoba, Long Plain, Swan Lake and Rolling River, have teamed up with the charity, “Food Matters Manitoba,” (FMM) to conduct the project. 

They collected samples of six wild plants which grow there – pin cherry, saskatoon, nannyberry, raspberry, grape and the medicinal herb, wiike (or sweet flag). Indigenous gatherers throughout North America have harvested them traditionally as both food and medicine, for centuries. The team submitted the samples to “ALS Laboratory Group,” a certified lab in Winnipeg. There, they were analyzed for 103 different pesticides and heavy metals. 

The lab detected several in either the roots, the soil, or both. However, most of the readings were well below levels of concern. In other words, the risk of getting sick from environmental contamination is low. And, if certain precautions are taken, the berries and herbs are still considered safe to eat.

Still, concerns linger. 

Green Party Would Stop The Energy East Pipeline and Help Manitoba Families Save on Their Energy Bills.

Winnipeg, March 23, 2016 – Green Party of Manitoba Energy advocate for Conservation and Water Stewardship, David Nickarz, says that a Green government would reject all projects associated with construction of the proposed Energy East pipeline.

The Green Party of Manitoba (GPM) thinks that Manitoba Hydro would help Manitobans more by investing in energy retrofitting and development of solar production, rather than quietly preparing to sell hydroelectric power to the Energy East pipeline,” Nickarz said.

Bait-and-Switch - The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Promised Environmental Protections Do Not Deliver

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

This study investigates the TPP’s environment chapter and finds, despite official assurances to the contrary, the protections afforded by the deal are weak and generally unenforceable. Far from being a milestone for environmental protection, the TPP does little to safeguard or promote a healthy environment.  More here.

RELATED: "Free Trade: Pathway to Prosperity - or Back Road to Corporatism?" 

Climate Change Plays a Sinister Role in More Ways Than One

by Larry Powell

Many of us would be surprised to hear that climate change actually played a role in the civil war in Syria, that disastrous conflict that has dragged on for five weary years now. But that’s precisely what the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in the US concluded in a report last year. A terrible drought ravaged that country for at least four years before the war began. It wiped out crops, forcing farm families into urban centres in a mass migration that greatly increased internal tensions. Keep in mind, Syria was already a country rife with poor governance and unsustainable farming and environmental policies. 

Now, using evidence from tree rings covering the past thousand years, the Earth Institute at Columbia University has added some new perspectives. In a study just published in the “Journal of Geophysical Research,” it concludes with confidence, not only was this drought aggravated by our burning of fossil fuels, it was likely the worst in 900 years.

Methane Emissions Are Spiking, But It Might Be More Cow Than Car

climateprogress

Since 2006, atmospheric levels of methane — a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — have steadily been on the rise. For years, scientists weren’t sure what was behind the rising levels of methane, but they had a few ideas: namely an increase in fossil fuel-related emissions. More here.

Woodfibre LNG Gets Approval From Ottawa

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

Environment and Climate Change Canada, has given the green light to the controversial Woodfibre LNG project, ruling on Friday that the proposal is "not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects." More here.

Behind Closed Doors–the Vulnerability of Big Meat Production

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

More than 400,000 turkies and chickens have been euthenized in massive animal factories in Indiana this past month. It's an attempt to contain a new strain of avian flu in the U.S. Last year, approximately 45 million birds were killed to contain the spread of a different avian flu strain in the U.S. These epidemics are not limited to poultry: two years ago, a massive piglet virus outbreak killed an estimated 10 percent of the U.S. hog population. More here.

Petroperu: Stop Using Children to Clean Up Your Spill! PLEASE SIGN!

ThePetitionSite

Amazon regions of Peru have suffered several catastrophic oil spills since January this year. And due to Petroperu's failure to contain the spills, at least 3,000 barrels of oil have polluted two important rivers. According to Oil Change International, the Chiriaco and Morona rivers have been plagued by at least 11 oil spills since 2010. Please sign here.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BETWEEN JOBS OR THE ENVIRONMENT

IRON

EARTH - Trades Workers for Renewable Energy

We can create new jobs while reducing our impact. DO YOU AGREE?

Last Month We Passed the Climate 'Red Line'

Greenpeace Canada

For the first time in recorded history, perhaps the first time in the course of human history temperatures in the northern hemisphere passed 2 degrees C above ‘normal.'  More here.

Keep It In The Ground! Please Sign Petition.

Art by Mona Caron

Add your name!

The People of Clyde River, Nunavut Need Your Help. PLEASE SIGN!

Greenpeace Canada

People in the coastal town of Clyde River, Nunavut — one of the most remote communities in the world — are protesting dangerous oil exploration in their waters. They are taking legal action to protect Canada’s Arctic and the mammals that thrive there from seismic blasting and have just been granted leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada.

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A five-year oil exploration project has been approved without Inuit consent off Clyde River’s coast, which allows seismic blasting — a process of firing loud sonic explosions through the ocean to find oil — as a first step towards dangerous Arctic oil drilling.

But it’s not just the oil drilling that’s dangerous — these explosions can disrupt migration paths of marine animals like narwhals, belugas, and bowheads, sometimes causing permanent hearing loss, and in the worst case, even death.

Join this brave community in their fight to protect their home and their traditions.

President Obama and the U.S. Interior Department have cancelled Arctic drilling off Alaska's shores. Please send a letter right now to urge Justin Trudeau and the National Energy Board to do the same here in Canada.

Please go here to sign.

Watch the video on Facebook >>

The Hidden Driver of Climate Change That We Too Often Ignore

The Washington Post.

PinP photo.

Humans are making global warming worse, all right — but in more ways than you think. More here.

Canadian Livestock Producers Benefit From a Solar Watering System

Manitoba Co-Operator

Installing a solar watering system has increased carrying capacity, weight gain and improved herd health. More here.

Greens Launch Manitoba Election Campaign With Plan to Reduce Poverty by Half

Green Party of Manitoba

Winnipeg, March 16, 2016: Today, leader James Beddome launched the Green election campaign with the announcement of a costed, Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) plan. More here.

Almost 13 Million People Die Yearly Due to Unhealthy Environments.

World Health Organization

PinP photo.

Geneva – An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly one in four of total global deaths, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO). Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries.

Sanders Accepts Challenge to Kill TPP If Elected... Nothing from Clinton So Far

CommonDreams

Talking trade policy in Ohio, Sanders also picks up key endorsement from Congresswomen Marcy Kaptur. More here.

SASKATCHEWANIANS! This Climate Crank Does Not Deserve Another Term in Office!

Don't forget, Premier Brad Wall opposes a carbon tax but supports nuclear power and federal tax dollars to help the oil industry "clean up." He is not a leader we need in an era of profound and destructive climate change. We need, instead, visions for alternative energy sources other than fossil fuels. Nuclear is not one of them. (Read post directly below.)

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: 5 Years On & No End in Sight

Greenpeace Canada

Naoto Kan, a supporter of nuclear power when he was Japan's Prime Minister , now opposes it in light of the terrible Fukushima disaster. Story here.

Climate Change Likely a Culprit in the Deaths of Millions of Salmon in Chile.

climateprogress

A deadly algal bloom has killed nearly 23 million fish in Chile, the world’s second-largest exporter. Abnormally high ocean temperatures fueled by one of the strongest El Niños in recorded history has helped the algal bloom flourish off of the Chilean coast. More here.

NFU To Be Part of Climate Change Solutions in Manitoba

National Farmers Union

National Farmer Union (NFU) is working with the Manitoba government to develop new ways for the province’s farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, and to reduce the impacts of climate change on our farms. More here.

Who’s Still Trashing Forests For Palm Oil? Big Names!

Greenpeace Canada

How 'clean' is the palm oil used by major brands around the world? Today, we're releasing the results of our investigation into which companies are keeping promises to stop deforestation in Indonesia for palm oil. Take a look now to see who's keeping up - and who's lagging way behind. More here.

How Uruguay Became a Wind Power Powerhouse

WORLD

RESOURCES

INSTITUTE

When it comes to renewable energy generation, the South American country of Uruguay is a huge success story. Story here.

Death of Honduran Activist Berta Cáceres Underscores the Need for Environmental Democracy

World Resources Institute

Berta Cáceres, a Honduran indigenous and environmental leader and Goldman Environmental Prize Winner has been assassinated. Story here.

Monsanto to Pay $80 mn For Trying to Cheat Over Its Roundup Earnings

Agro Pages

Monsanto Co. will pay $80 million to settle civil accounting violations after it allegedly misstated its earnings in connection with its top-selling Roundup product, U.S. securities regulators said on Feb 9th, 2016. Details here. 

"Babes Against Biotech." Help Save Hawaii From Monsanto! (Video)