The future of electricity is wind and solar, new report says. Canada is lagging behind

CBC News

A PinP photo.

Installing solar is relatively fast, and Canada can catch up. Story here.

The Fertilizer Falacy - Pushing Yields up and Profit Down

Understanding Agriculture

 Nitrogen fertilizer is applied to winter wheat. 
Photo by Michael Trolove.

There’s a deeply held belief in modern agriculture that more fertilizer equals more yield, and more yield equals more profit. It sounds reasonable on the surface. But when you sharpen your pencil and run the numbers, the math often tells a very different story. For many farmers, a significant chunk of their fertilizer bill is doing nothing more than padding someone else’s bottom line. Story here.

Alberta scraps environmental assessment for Kevin O'Leary's 'world's largest' data centre

Canada's National Observer 

Danielle with her "besties," Donald 
and Kevin.

Danielle Smith's government is exempting celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's massive Wonder Valley data centre near Grand Prairie, AB, from a provincial environmental assessment, Canada's National Observer has learned. Story here.

AI minister meets with mining, energy companies on environment impacts — not green groups.

                             Canada’s National Observer

Chat GPT generated this image, representing AI.
No humans are present.
Author: Alenoach.

Canada's AI Minister Evan Solomon has met with energy and mining companies about the environmental impacts of AI infrastructure, but no environmental organizations, according to documents tabled in the House of Commons. Story here. 

Herbicide-resistant weeds now on 72 per cent of surveyed Manitoba fields, costing farmers $77M a year.

The Manitoba Co-Operator

Four new resistant weed species have emerged since the last survey in 2016, and researchers say integrated weed management is now critical to slowing the spread across Prairie cropland. Story here.

THE LAMENT OF A FAMED SCIENTIST

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

“I thought I’d spend my entire career working at this wonderful place. But I never expected that science itself would come under attack, simply because it—like journalism, history, and even the best kind of art—is a way of seeking the truth. I’m leaving because I want to tell the truth.” 

Famed climate scientist Kate Marvel on why she resigned from NASA, amid federal government turmoil and funding challenges. 

There is no historical precedent for how badly out of balance the climate is now, U.N. warns

Scientific American

The past eleven years were the eleven hottest on record amid an increasing onslaught ofclimate-driven disasters, the World Meteorological Organization says in a new report.                 

Story here.

‘Black rain’ in Tehran: what are the health effects?

 Journal Nature

Toxic smoke from burning oil depots has blanketed Iran’s capital after missile strikes. Story here..

What happens to your brain in nature? The neuroscience explained

The Conversation.

The McKenzie Mountains, NWT, Canada.

 

   Have you ever felt calmer almost as soon as you step into the woods? Or maybe noticed your busy mind soften as you look out at the sea? Story here.

         Please also read my story in the journal, "Focusing on Wildlife" here;

More proof. A walk-in-the-park really can boost our feelings of well-being – especially when there are wild songbirds along the way! 

Living the high life: A record-breaking year for CEO pay in Canada

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

By 9:23 a.m. on January 2 Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs had already made what the average worker will make all year. Details here.   

Green energy has passed 'positive tipping point,' and cost will come down, UN says.

                                                CBC News 

A PinP image.

Solar and wind power now cheaper globally than the lowest-cost fossil fuel. Details here.

Taxes! Taxes! Taxes! An Historian "Nails It!" Billionaires Need to Pay Up! (Video)

Is the Hog Industry a Sacred Cow?

By Larry Powell

About eight years ago (May, 2018), I reported on my blog, how

a rare, deadly and incurable virus called Nipah had first been identified nineteen years before in Malaysia (1999). It killed or hospitalized hundred of people. While fruit bats had probably been the initial carriers, the victims had all worked closely with pigs, which acted as intermediate hosts. To prevent the spread of the disease, more than a million hogs were euthanized, inflicting tremendous economic losses on the Malaysian economy. 

By 2018, Nipah had re-emerged in India, sickening or claiming the lives of dozens more. 

Today, the CBC is reporting two more cases of Nipah in India. This has prompted authorities in Thailand and Malaysia to step up airport screening to prevent its spread.

Nipah remains on the World Health Organization’s priority list of emerging diseases that could cause a global pandemic. It can be transmitted to humans from bats, pigs, contaminated food or other humans.

Despite all these warning signs, and despite high losses of hogs due to other diseases (like Manitoba's disastrous encounter with Porcine Epidemic Diahrrea virus (PEDv), Canada still doubles down on the factory-farm method of pork production.  

 

This places thousands of animals in close proximity, (see image, above) elevating the risk of disease-spread. And feeding dead pigs back to live animals, as atrocious as that sounds, and banned in other countries, is still permitted by our federal “watchdog,” the Canada Food Inspection Agency. Does this sound like a responsible way to protect our vulnerable herds from Nipah or Nipah-like infections?

Read more about this in my book, The Merchants of Menace - Chapter 22 - Livestock Diseases - The Ugliness, The Suffering, the Peril, the Waste.

So you think Canada's current cold snap means "global warming" is over? Well...think again!

CBC News.

Extreme cold and climate change: What's the deal?

Why are we breaking Canadian records amid record global heat?

Click here.

Severe drought leads to urgent order for Manitoba Hydro to raise rates by 4% on Jan. 1

CBC News

Crown corporation requested 3 consecutive rate hikes of 3.5%. Story here.

SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS - WE PROBABLY SHOULD!

by Larry Powell

Chat GPT generated this image, representing AI. No humans are present.
Author: Alenoach.

Findings by a team of Dutch scientists, just published in *Science Direct show, AI systems globally may well have produced more than 72m tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2025 alone. That’s the equivalent of all of New York City’s carbon footprint for that year. 

They may have also consumed 765 billion litres of water in that same time span. That’s in the range of all of the bottled water consumed, worldwide.

And their power demand could approach that of a country the size of the United Kingdom.

AI data center operators do not publicly disclose the detail needed for more precise figures. So the findings are estimates only. 

"Further disclosures are urgently required," say the researchers, "to improve the accuracy of these estimates and to responsibly manage the growing environmental impact of AI systems.” They further suggest the AI sector be required to provide such vital information. 

=====

*ScienceDirect is a go-to resource for finding authoritative, peer-reviewed research in nearly every scientific field, leveraging digital technology for broad accessibility and efficient discovery. 

BOOK LINK

 Please read "The Merchants of Menace. How Puppets in Government and Some in Academe are Helping Corporate Hog Producers Have Their Way in Manitoba, Canada. A Tragedy." by Larry Powell

Please download and consider a donation.

Retraction of glyphosate review raises new questions about landmark study

Manitoba Co-Operator

An influential review that helped support global claims of glyphosate safety has been formally retracted, raising questions about the future of the pesticide. Story here.

Please also read and watch story here.

A WORK OF FICTION (OBVIOUSLY), BUT WITH A MESSAGE.

 An axe-murderer boards a plane in New York City. He’s on a mission of pure evil. Under instructions from the head of his local crime syndicate, he is to hack to death all members of a rival family in Sicily. That family is rumoured to be “horning in” on the drug and sex-trade in New York. Such a threat cannot, of course, be allowed to stand. The wife and 3 children are to be dispensed with first, while the father, bound nearby, watches helplessly. Then, it’ll be his turn - a powerful message to ayone who dares to threaten the turf of its American rivals. The assassin’s weapon-of-choice is stowed securely in the belly of the plane (with the axe’s razor-sharp head made of stone, fiendishly designed to avoid metal-detectors). He’s on his way.

The next day, an elite athlete boards an identical aircraft, also in New York, headed for a crucial competition in Paris. The world renowned track-&-field star is internationally famous for her prowess and the millions of girls who look up to her as a role-model. She’s widely known and well-loved for her generosity, donating her considerable wealth to worthy charities. Coincidentally, she’ll travel an identical distance as the assassin, producing precisely the same amount of greenhouse gases as he in the process! The moral of the story? It’s not just bad, wicked people who are aggravating our climate crisis. We are all in this, together.

How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling

The Guardian

Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate action - and then kept drilling. Story here.