USDA Confirms Unapproved GMO Wheat Found in Washington State

THEWESTERN

PRODUCER

Genetically modified wheat developed by Monsanto Co, and never approved by federal regulators, has been found growing in a Washington state farm field, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Friday. Story here.

Five Things to Consider After 14 Months in a Row of Record Heat

EcoWatch

There is just so much to digest in the latest release of monthly global temperature data by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), I thought I needed to say something. I just don't know where to start, so bear with me, please, as this news of temperature records being broken (yet again) is profoundly sobering and worth understanding in detail. It is all hard to grasp and chew on, so I will try to go bit by bit here …Story here.

First Nations in Manitoba Keep Wary Eye on Saskatchewan Oil Spill

CBCnews

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs calls for boycott of Husky Energy. Story here.

Is the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on the Wrong Side of History, Once Again? (Opinion)

by Larry Powell

Has that old siren-song of industry hit a sour note? You know the one. If we spend too much money trying to reign in climate change, it will only damage jobs and the economy. In fact, here is a direct quote from the website of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.

With Planting Season Weeks Away, Millions in Drought-Hit Southern Africa Need Support – UN

UN News Centre

Some 23 million people in southern Africa are in need of urgent support to be able to produce enough food to feed themselves…Story here.

Landmark Human Rights Complaint Lodged Against World's Worst Polluters

COMMONDREAMS

In unprecedented case, Filipino governmental body accuses carbon-polluting corporations of violating people's rights to "life, food, water, sanitation, adequate housing, and to self determination.” Story here.

Scorching Global Temps Astound Climate Scientists

CommonDreams

As wildfire rages in California, flooding affects millions in India and China, and eggs are fried on sidewalks in Iraq, scientists say global climate catastrophe is surpassing predictions. Story here.

Energy East Opposition Wants City of Winnipeg to Review Pipeline Risks.

CBCnews

PinP photo.

Pipeline puts Winnipeg water supply in jeopardy, Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition says. Story here.

'You Cannot Explain it by Chance': Climate Crises Can Fuel Armed Conflict

CommonDreams

New research adds to argument that extreme weather is linked to deadly violence, particularly in fractured countries. Story here.

Worse Than Keystone XL? TransCanada's Terrifying "Plan B"

CommonDreams

"TransCanada's Energy East proposal is truly Keystone XL on steroids," says Natural Resources Defense Council. Story here.

Worst Drought in Decades Plagues Western New York

The Buffalo News

Tractors plow through clouds of dust. Crops fail to germinate. Dairy cows aren’t producing milk. They can’t even eat and sleep in the heat. Story here.

Manitoba Growers Warned of Spreading Glyphosate Resistant Kochia

THEWESTERN

PRODUCER

Photo by WildBoar

A map will show where glyphosate resistant kochia has been found in Manitoba. Story here.

California Wildfire Triples in Size

EcoWatch

Wildfires are no stranger to California. And they're getting worse! This blaze raged around Santa Barbara in 2008.
 http://flickr.com/photos/edward-vielmetti/

A huge wildfire burning since Friday in the Santa Clarita Valley area north of Los Angeles has tripled in size over the weekend, destroying at least 18 homes and leaving one man dead. More than 1,500 homes have been evacuated as 1,673 firefighters battle the Sand fire. Story here.

White House Takes Aim at a Fast-Growing Source of Emissions: Airplanes

The Washington Post

PinP photo.

The Environmental Protection Agency has taken a key step toward limiting pollution caused by the nation’s fleet of commercial aircraft, part of a broader push in the Obama administration’s waning months to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  Story here.

The ALUS Program May Come Back to Manitoba

The Manitoba Co-Operator

The new government looks to follow through on its promise to implement the program province-wide. Story here.

Rare Lowland Old-Growth Forest at Risk – Logging Preparations East of Vancouver

Ancient Forest Alliance News

Road-building is scheduled to begin this week and preliminary logging surveys of the old-growth redcedars are underway by Echo Lake, an extremely rare, lowland old-growth forest about 2 hours east of Vancouver between Mission and Agassiz. Story here.

Hail Damage Claims Skyrocket in Manitoba

Manitoba Co-Operator

The massive storms that have steamrolled through parts of Manitoba are causing significantly higher than average hail damage claims, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association. Story here.

Study: Climate Change Causing Widespread Global Coral Reef Degradation

CommonDreams

Abel Valdivia / Center for Biological Diversity

Global Warming Far Outweighs Local Impacts Like Pollution, Overfishing in Harming These Important Ocean Ecosystems. Story here.

BC Defies its Own Citizens and Barges Ahead With a Massive Dam. (Video) PLEASE SIGN PETITION!

June Was Earth's 14th Straight Record Warm Month, Greenland Loses Shocking 1 Trillion Tons of Ice

EcoWatch

June has continued the unprecedented heat streak for the 14th month, with globally averaged temperatures being a full 0.9 C warmer than the average across the 20th century. Story here.

Flooding Now Causing Most Crop Damage

THEWESTERN

PRODUCER

If crop insurance data is an indicator, flooding may now be the most common plague in Saskatchewan. Story here.

Malta Likely to Become First European Country to Ban Glyphosate

EcoWatch

Malta has begun the process of banning glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup. Story here.







Crop Duster in Manitoba. PinP photo.

Environmental Group Regrets Manitoba's Review of Pesticide Ban

CBCNews

Pallister government says it will review restriction on cosmetic pesticides in Manitoba. Story here.

Hundreds of Offshore Fracking Wells Dump Billions of Gallons of Oil Waste Into Gulf

EcoWatch by Andy Rowell

As the U.S. shale industry comes under increasing scrutiny for its environmental and health impact, it has emerged that the U.S. has approved fracking offshore leading to billions of gallons of wastewater to be dumped at sea. Story here.

Scientists Warn of 'Unsafe' Decline in Biodiversity

BBC News

An international team of scientists has issued a warning that biodiversity is dropping below safe levels for the support and wellbeing of human societies. Story here.

What Will it Take For Fox News to Recognize Climate Change is Real? (Video spoof)

Hog Barn Fire ‘Could Have Been Much Worse’

THE WESTERN

PRODUCER

A hog farm north of Leroy, Sask., is redistributing its stock after a June 18 inferno demolished two barns. Story here. 

'Shocking,' 'Plain Stupid': Theresa May Shuts Climate Change Office

CommonDreams

'This reshuffle risks dropping climate change from the policy agenda altogether—a staggering act of negligence for which we will all pay the price.’ Story here.

We're Going to Court. Time to Sting Back!

John Bennett

Honeybee photo by Joydeep

Enough is enough.  With your help we’re heading to court to get bee killing pesticides off the market. Story here.

Global Warming Shifts Earth's Clouds, Study Shows

theguardian

PinP photo

The warming of the planet over the past few decades has shifted a key band of clouds poleward and increased the heights of clouds tops. Story here.

Colombian Popular Tribunal to Try Canadian Oil Company

PR Newswire

Representatives of Canadian and Quebec's civil society organizations are in Colombia this week as part of a delegation to support and observe a popular hearing on the actions of Canadian oil company Pacific Rubiales Energy in Colombia. Story here.

'Lives are going to be shortened:' Fort McMurray firefighters fear for health

CBC News

The health toll of the wildfire remains unknown. Story here.

Early Hail Season on the Canadian Prairies Keeps Adjusters Hopping

THE WESTERN

PRODUCER

Prairie hail adjusters are busy earlier than usual this year following several recent storms. Story here.

Global Warming to Blame for Hundreds of Heatwave Deaths, Scientists Say

theguardian

Manmade climate change increased the risk of heat-related deaths by about 70% in Paris and 20% in London in 2003, research shows. Story here.

Bornean Orangutan Declared ‘Critically Endangered’

EcoWatch

The Bornean orangutan is now listed as critically endangered. With this update, both species of orangutan (the other being Sumatran) are now at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Story here.

Global Fish Production Approaching Sustainable Limit, UN Warns

theguardian

Around 90% of the world’s stocks are now fully or overfished and production is set to increase further by 2025, according to report from UN’s food body. Story here.

Australia's Vast Kelp Forests Devastated by Marine Heatwave, Study Reveals

theguardian

About 90% of forests off the western coast were wiped out between 2011 to 2013, posing a threat to biodiversity and the marine economy, say scientists. Story here.

Climate Change Claims a Bolivian Lake, and an Identity

The New York Times

The water receded and the fish died. They surfaced by the tens of thousands, belly-up, and the stench drifted in the air for weeks. Story here.

As Global Per-Capita Fish Consumption Hits All-Time High, UN Warns Of Overharvesting

UN News Centre

Fishing trawler - U.S. Navy photo.

A new report from the UN shows that, while growth in aquaculture has helped drive up global per capita fish consumption, almost a third of commercial fish stocks are now over-harvested. Story here.

Cattails Into Clean Energy: Where to From Here?

IISD

Cattails - PinP photo.

This past year has been a monumental success for IISD’s Cattail Harvesting for Nutrient Capture and Sustainable Energy project. Story here.

Canadian Environmental Groups Head to Court Over Pollinator-Killing Pesticides

Friends of the Earth

Honeybee photo by Joydeep

Neonicotinoid pesticides have been linked to mass bee die-offs and declining pollinator populations. Story here.

Glyphosate Sprayed on GMO Crops Linked to Lake Erie’s Toxic Algae Bloom

EcoWatch

Glyphosate, the controversial main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and other herbicides, is being connected to Lake Erie’s troubling algae blooms, which has fouled drinking water and suffocated and killed marine life in recent years. Story here.

One of North America’s Biggest Peat Bogs Burns Near Vancouver

CBC News

The challenge is to extinguish fire before it moves underground. Story here.

RELATED: "These Fires Are Huge, Hidden and Harmful. What Can We Do?"

First Nations Were First Farmers in Manitoba

MANITOBA CO-Operator

U of M students search site for historical artifacts. Story here.

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

Open Pit Coal Mine Planned For Britain's Northumberland Coast

TheGuardian

Plans to open a new mine have been criticised by local residents and NGOs for contradicting government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and phase out coal. Story here.

An open pit coal mine in New Zealand. Photo credit - Kai Point Coal Mine

Court Rules Organic Farmers in Minnesota Can Sue Conventional GMO Farmers

GLOBAL

POSSIBILITIES

Court rules organic farmers can sue conventional, GMO farmers whose pesticides ‘trespass’ and contaminate their fields. Story here.

Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

EcoWatch

Forty five years have passed since Earl Butz, then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, asserted, “Before we go back to organic agriculture in this country, somebody must decide which 50 million Americans we are going to let starve or go hungry.” Time has proven Butz very wrong. Story here.

Coral With Leaves: Millions of Trees Joining the List of Climate Change Casualties

inside

climate

news

Mass die-offs in California, the Southwest and Europe are not only tied to global warming by new studies, they will add to it. Story here.

‘Guacamole-Thick’ Algae Takes Over Florida’s Atlantic Coast, 4 Counties Declare State of Emergency

EcoWatch

Algal blooms on Lake Erie, similar to Florida's. Photo by NOAA.

Waterways and beaches along Florida’s Atlantic coast have been taken over by thick, blue-green algae blooms, prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare local states of emergency in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Lee counties. Story here.

These Fires Are Huge, Hidden And Harmful. What Can We Do?

ensia

Smouldering peat gives off massive quantities of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, but the search for solutions is on. Story here.

RELATED: "One of North America' Biggest Peat Bogs Burns Near Vancouver."

"Only Heroic Efforts Will Spare Earth's Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change."

As World Burns, Richest Nations Can't Decide When to End Fossil Fuel Handouts

CommonDreams

Despite ambitious pledges, global energy ministers could not agree on a target date to phase out billions in subsidies to dirty energy. Story here.

Wild Creatures and Places in and Near Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.

by Larry Powell
Some of the wildlife and terrain we saw and photographed in and near the park. Enjoy!

A lone member of the park's herd of prairie bison.

A shy (and rare) burrowing owl.

Ringneck pheasant

Black-tailed prairie dogs

"Seventy-Mile Butte"

A sweep of rare, wild prairie, preserved for posterity in the park. (All photos by PinP.)

Please also visit: "Wild Critters of the Grasslands, a Picture Story."

Free Trade, the Democratic National Congress and the Climate Crisis

CommonDreams

The same day TransCanada Pipelines sued the U.S. government for $15 billion, the Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee met in Missouri. Between the two, there is a lesson to be learned about free trade and the climate crisis. Story here.

Victory in Canada as Court Strikes Down Northern Gateway Pipeline

CommonDreams

Opponents "said 'no' to Enbridge 12 years ago when it first proposed the project. And now that 'no' has the backing of the courts." Story here.

You Can Give Them Back Their Summers

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Forest fires are not an unusual thing in the Northwest Territories, but the summer of 2014 went beyond anything Yellowknife residents had seen before. The air quality index was at 10 or worse – the worst it can be – for much of the summer because of all the smoke. Story here.

RELATED: "B.C. remains quiet over polluted Hullcar aquifer"