PLANET IN PERIL (PinP)

It's not exactly "news" that spending time in nature benefits human health and well-being. But an experiment conducted  by social scientists along some mountain trails in Colorado shows - it's not just the wind in our faces or the grandeur of the scenery we need to thank.                                              by Larry Powell A PinP photo.

Nature Antarctica. Aerial photo by Astro_Alex. Less than 32% of Antarctica is made up of areas that are free from human interference, and these areas are declining as human activity increases, reports a paper published in Nature. The study finds that although 99.6% of the continent can be considered to be wilderness (a relatively undisturbed environment), this area does not include much of its biodiversity. Despite Antarctica’s isolation, the continent is under increasing pressure from human activity, including scientific research, the development of infrastructure and tourism. However, the total area of wilderness on the continent is unknown, as is the extent to which Antarctica’s biodiversity is contained within this. Four killer whales cooperatively hunting a crabeater  seal off the coast of Antarctica. Photo by Callan Carpenter,  taken from one of many research vessels in the area.  Steven Chown and colleagues assembled a record of ground-based human activ

The Wilderness Committee

With special thanks to Eric Bogle, for granting me permission to use his song for this video! Thanks, Eric! You are the greatest! Larry.

ScienceNews A green Arctic meadow - Baffin Island, CA. Photo by Mike Beauregard. Warming trends bring more insects, extreme weather and wildfires that wipe out plants. More here.

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.

EcoWatch The U.S. Senate has passed a Republican tax-reform package that contains a provision to authorize oil drilling on the coastal plain of Alaska's  Arctic  National Wildlife Refuge, placing the biological heart of one of our last pristine, untouched places in severe peril. Story here. Barrenground caribou, Nunavut.  Ansgar Walk photo. RELATED: Proposed oil development threatens yet another caribou herd.

CBC news Unanimous decision returns planning process to earlier stage, requires additional consultation.  Story here. Boreal forest in the broad valley of the Hart River, (Peel Watershed). Photo: Juri Peepre

Sierra Club BC Wood Buffalo National Park. Photo credit: UNESCO -    Vincent Ko Hon Chiu  Canada has failed to protect its largest World Heritage Site. Based upon a process initiated by Sierra Club BC, UNESCO visited the Peace River Valley in the fall of 2016 to investigate how the Site C dam endangers Wood Buffalo National Park. UNESCO  strongly criticizes Canada for exposing the park to danger.  Story here.

     Canadian Geographic Photo credit - Garth Lenz, Canadian Geographic. The James Bay Lowlands contain both environmentally crucial peatlands and one of the largest potential mineral reserves in Canada. Story here.

The Globe & Mail Federal and provincial governments are being urged to increase protection for the boreal forest and its imperilled woodland caribou herds from resource-company activity, as environment ministers prepare to meet in Ottawa this week to devise plans for greater conservation efforts. Story here.

CBCnews Nova Scotia coastal archipelago now 85 per cent protected. Details here.

CPAWS Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Are human animals "loving our parks to death?"  PinP photos. For almost a decade CPAWS has observed a significant shift in Parks Canada’s approach to managing our national parks, away from their legislative first priority of protecting nature, towards a more tourism and marketing focused agenda which is putting wildlife and wilderness in our national parks at risk. Details here.

rabble.ca A forest in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, rendered "ghost-like" by hoarfrost. PinP photo. If you fly over a forest and look down, you'll see every green tree and plant reaching to the heavens to absorb the ultimate energy source: sunlight. What a contrast when you look down on… Story here.

The Washington Post Scientists Thursday provided a global quantification of one of the most pervasive, but least recognized, ways that humans are marring the coherence of the natural world — by building endless numbers of roads. Story here. A logging road in the UK.  Richard Webb

NATIONAL OBSERVER PinP photo Four private parcels of land have been added to protected zones in the largest coastal temperate rainforest left on Earth, ensuring their permanent protection from commercial logging, conservationists announced Thursday. Story here.

The Washington Post Mule deer - Grasslands Nat'l. Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.   Copyright © 2016 PinP Wilderness areas on Earth have experienced alarming losses in the past two decades, a new study suggests. Story here .

CommonDreams Great Blue heron. PinP photo. With 10 percent lost in just 20 years, researchers say wilderness is being lost at a 'staggering' pace. Story here.