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Showing posts from July, 2019

The more we carve up natural landscapes with roads and fields, the closer we’re pushing large predators like lions and wolves, toward extinction.

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by Larry Powell While the consequences of habitat loss have been known for some time, new research just published, underlines just how grave the situation has become.  While this latest research is German, animals like the grey wolf face similar disruption in North America.  It’s called “habitat fragmentation.” And, it’s been happening on such a large scale, it’s been hard to tell what aspects are the most destructive. That's because ecologists - at least 'til now - ha ven't been able to properly keep track of all wildlife within an entire eco-system when human developments confine them to smaller and more isolated patches of livable space.  -30-

Recent research contradicts a claim by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest bug-killer is safe for bees.

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by Larry Powell A honeybee colony in Manitoba. A PinP photo. It's brand name is "Sivanto," (generic name -  flupyradifurone ). It's an insecticide designed to kill a wide range of bugs which eat food crops such as soybeans. Bayer is registering it in many jurisdictions around the world.  After conducting various field studies,  Bayer  concludes , "Sivanto displayed a very promising safety profile." The company concedes, it works in ways similar to the  neonicotinoids  (a group of insecticides which has become notorious for its likely role in pollinator decline). Still, it finds, the product "can be considered safe to most beneficial insects, specifically pollinators."  Image by Brian Robert Marshall. But a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego, reaches a different conclusion.   In findings published earlier this year, the team gave a range of Sivanto doses to the bees, including ones

Amazon deforestation accelerating towards unrecoverable 'tipping point'

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The Guardian Data confirms fears that Jair Bolsonaro’s policy encourages illegal logging in Brazil.  Story here. The Amazon rainforest near Manaus, capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas (largely untouched by human hands, so far).Photo by Neil Palmer/ CIAT.

‘You can’t drink money’: Kootenay communities fight logging to protect their drinking water

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The Narwhal In Glade, BC, where clear-cutting could begin any day, determined residents are pulling out all the stops in an effort to protect their local creek — even though a judge ruled they have no right to clean water. Story here. The south end of Kootenay Lk. Photo by Shawn from Airdrie, Canada.

Modern Climate Change Is the Only Worldwide Warming Event of the Past 2,000 Years

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Smithsonian.com New research finds that previous periods of warming and cooling driven by natural causes were regional shifts in temperature rather than global events. Story here. A grey heron suffers during a heatwave - 2013. Photo by Gail Hampshire   from Cradley, Malvern, U.K

The smell, the noise, the dust: my neighbour, the factory farm

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The Guardian Industrial farms are spreading across Europe. Greenpeace campaigners went to talk to the people who live close by.Warning: readers may find some of the images upsetting. Story here. Dead hogs in a dumpster at a Manitoba factory barn, awaiting removal to an unknown location. A PinP photo. Please also read - "In Hogs We Trust."   A critique of Manitoba’s runaway hog industry. Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse. Part 11 - The price we pay for corporate pig$. Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the global magnitude of livestock diseases. Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry. Part V - What’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand?  

Climate change risks for northern Canada (CBC Video)

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Arctic amplification, sea ice, jet stream, polar vortexes...(video)

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Canada's high school curricula not giving students full picture of climate change

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by University of British Columbia A Pexels photo. Canada's high school students may not be getting enough information on the negative impacts of climate change, scientific consensus behind human-caused warming or climate solutions, according to new research from the University of British Columbia and Lund University. Story here.

How Airplane Contrails Are Helping Make the Planet Warmer

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Yale ENVIRONMENT 360 Contrails over Manitoba. A  PinP  photo. New research shows that condensation trails from aircraft exhaust are playing a significant role in global warming. Experts are concerned that efforts to change aviation engine design to reduce CO2 emissions could actually create more contrails and raise daily temperatures even more. Story here.

Canada needs to triple the amount of protected land and water to tackle 'nature emergency': report

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CBC News A Cape May warbler. So far, its populations are stable. Photo by PinP. Biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, study finds. Story here.

A popular farm fungicide, now banned in Europe as a suspected carcinogen, remains in widespread use in Canada today.

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 The European Union halted sales of all crop fungicides containing the active ingredient, chlorothalonil this spring. The move followed advice from its Food Safety Agency (EFSA) that  chlorothalonil   "may cause cancer in humans." Canada,  on the other hand, re-approved the same product just over  a  year ago. Hard numbers on amounts still being applied in this country  are hard to come by. But official government documents show  it continues to be approved for use in no less than 29  crop protection products.  by Larry Powell A ground sprayer in Manitoba. Stats Canada says farmers in that  province apply fungicides  "more frequently"  than their counterparts  in any other province, " possibly due to its large potato sector." A  PinP  photo. Chlorothalonil  is the active ingredient in  several agricultural fungicides used  to treat mildew, blight and mold in many food  crops.                                                     It's

Thirty years of unique data reveal what's really killing coral reefs

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Science News Study is world's longest record of reactive nutrients, alga concentrations for coral reefs.  Story here. Bleached coral. Photo by NOAA.

The Uninhabitable Earth

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New York Intelligencer.  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us:  What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think.   Story here. Photo by Oxfam.

The Guardian view on the climate emergency: a dangerous paralysis

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The Guardian The closer the prospect of disaster becomes, the less the government manages to do.    Story here. A PinP photo.

Don’t believe carbon pricing really works? Just ask B.C.

PEMBINA institute Carbon tax holds key to clean innovation. Story here.  

Seismic lines in Alberta's boreal forest boost methane emissions, according to UCalgary study

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                                                                        UToday Newly discovered emissions would increase Canada's national reporting of greenhouse gases.  Story here. Photo by Roland "Roly" Roesler. Photographer's Note This is an aerial view of the Northern Alberta landscape, somewhere between Athabasca and Swan Hills. It consists of numerous shallow lakes, muskeg, and the typical vegetation including spruce, willow and poplars. The typical patterns of the vegetation are determined by the consistence and composition of the semi-solid soil underneath.  The parallel lines that scar the landscape are seismic lines used for oil and gas exploration, and they cover good part of the province. Seismic exploration is somewhat similar in principle to radar, and even more similar to the ultrasound used in medical facilities. Straight, parallel stripes up to 10 m wide are cleared with bulldozers, and drilling equipment follows th