PLANET IN PERIL

Daily Kos A painted lady. Things are shaping up for 2019 to be another massive migration year for Painted Lady butterflies.  Story here.

Science Magazine IN SECTION: NEWS IN BRIEF Edited by Jeffrey Brainard Opens in modal lightbox Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in  Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK   PHOTO Viewable Image - mexicos monarch population booms Image Caption Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Angangueo, Mexico.   PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Every winter, monarch butterflies in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States flock to the pine and fir forests of central Mexico to hibernate, covering trees and turning hectares of forest orange and black. This year, the butterfly population overwintering in Mexico more than doubled, according to World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which helps lead the annual count. The butterflies covered 6.05 hectares of forest, up from 2.48 last year. It’s the largest wintering area since the winter of 2006–07. This famous group of migrating monarchs has been struggling in recent years, with an all-time low arriving

by Don Sullivan Story here. Jack Pine I would encourage you all to take a few minutes out of your day today and email the Manitoba Minister of Sustainable Development at; minsdev@leg.gov.mb.ca and se nd a similar email that I have sent below. If necessary copy and paste the one that I sent below and add your name. Dear Minister of Sustainable Development, I am writing to address an urgent matter and seek clarification from you on this matter regarding File: 5991.00 - Canadian Premium Sand Inc. - Wanipigow Sand Extraction Project. In its Environmental Act Proposal Submission, Canadian Premium Sand (The Company), indicates that they will, prior to receiving a Class 2 Licence for the entire project, undertake site clearing and infrastructure construction sometime in February/March 2019. ( EAP submission Part 1 Executive Summary) The Company will need to receive works permits issued under the Crown Lands Act under Section 7(1)(c). For the record I am strongl

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B An Oxfam photo. Humans have dramatically altered the planet over the course of a century, from the acidity of our oceans to the fragmentation of our landscapes and the temperature of our climate. More here.

The New York Times A decade ago, the U.S. mandated the use of vegetable oil in biofuels, leading to industrial-scale deforestation — and a huge spike in carbon emissions. Story here. A palm oil concession in Sumatra. Photo by Hayd.

Greenpeace Photo by  Evan-Amos Oreo products found on Canadian supermarket shelves list palm oil as an ingredient, the cultivation of which in Indonesia is a major driver of orangutan habitat loss Story here.

The Guardian Banned PCB chemicals are still severely harming the animals - but the Arctic could be a refuge.  More here. An orca breaches. Photo by  H. Zell.

Science X  Riding Mtn. Nat'l. Park - Manitoba, Canada. A PinP photo. A new paper in the journal Science strongly supports establishment of many more land and sea areas as protected sites. Failure to do so, the editorial warns, chillingly, could spell doom for many species, including our own!  More here.

Texas A&M University The bad news: Dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa -- totaling a staggering 2 to 9 trillion pounds worldwide -- has been almost a biblical plague on Texas and much of the Southern United States in recent weeks. The good news: the same dust appears to be a severe storm killer. More here.

Bill McKibben  for The Guardian. Pipe loaded on a train in Manitoba, destined for God-knows-where. A PinP photo. The oil industry is building yet another pipeline - but Native American groups and progressive activists are fighting back. More here.

The Narwhal American White Pelicans at the  Rapids of the Drowned, Wood Buffalo Park. Photo by Ansgar Walk. International officials are warning the Canadian government not enough is being done to protect the Peace-Athabasca delta — one of the world’s largest freshwater inland deltas — from the ravages of ongoing industrial development. More here.

The New York Times  The largest  Antarctic   ozone hole  ever recorded on September 24, 2006. NASA. Last month, scientists disclosed a global pollution mystery:  a surprise rise in emissions of an outlawed industrial gas  that destroys the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer. More here.

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO Researchers at the University of Waterloo may have discovered a new, pesticide-free way to limit mosquito populations in some area and reduce the spread of the West Nile virus. Story here. A more detailed version of this study can be found here.

ricochet  One of the many protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline in Vancouver. Photo by  William Chen. Groups say prime minister’s stance on tar sands negates attempt to position Canada as a global climate leader. Story here.

The Guardian Pigs outstripped people in Duplin county long ago - but now the residents are fighting back . More here.

The Guardian A clearcut at Bugaboo Creek, B.C. Groundbreaking assessment of all life on Earth reveals humanity’s surprisingly tiny part in it as well as our disproportionate impact. More here. RELATED: "The Sixth Extinction - an Unnatural History," a book review.

EcoWatch A traffic jam on the road to the famed Lake Louise in Jasper National Park, Canada. PinP photo. A study published in  Science  Friday presents what authors call a sobering "reality check" on global efforts to protect  biodiversity —one third of all conservation areas set aside as wildlife sanctuaries or  national parks  are "highly degraded" by human activities. More here.

ScienceNews Salmon farming in Reloncavi Estuary, Chile. Photo by  Pablo Rodríguez Tasty, versatile, and rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids: salmon is one of the most popular edible fish of all. Shops sell fish caught in the wild, but their main produce is salmon from breeding farms which can pollute rivers, lakes and oceans. Just how big is the problem? Scientists are working to answer this question by examining the dissolved organic compounds which enter Chile’s rivers from salmon farms. They warn that these substances are placing huge strain on ecosystems and are changing entire biological communities. More here.

The Guardian A narrows in the Meykong - Laos. Photo by Hector Garcia. Government-commissioned report says proposed site is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife. More here. RELATED: " Mekong - a River Rising. "