Manitoba's Opposition NDP Leader, Wab Kinew, Favours Cap & Trade Over Carbon Tax.

Backyard chickens.

Climate chicken. 

Conservationists find protected areas worldwide are shrinking

PHYS ORG

Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.
A PinP photo.

A large international team of researchers reports that the amount of land designated as protected around the globe is shrinking. Story here.

A warming Arctic produces weather extremes further south!

PHYS ORG

The Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream can be seen crossing
Cape Breton Island in Eastern Canada. A NASA photo.

Atmospheric researchers have developed a climate model that can accurately depict the frequently observed winding course of the jet stream, a major air current over the Northern Hemisphere. It demonstrates that the jet stream's wavelike course and subsequent extreme weather conditions like cold air outbreaks in Central Europe and North America are the direct results of climate change. 

Story here.

Jane Fonda Speaks Out on Behalf of Greenpeace. "The Environment Needs Our Help!" (Video)

Stop using taxpayers’ money to destroy the world: Guterres

UN News

Fires around Fort McMurray, Alberta, 2016. 
The red dots show active fires.The European Space Agency.

The idea that subsidizing fossil fuels is a way to improve people’s lives could not be more wrong, says António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, because it means spending taxpayers’ money to “boost hurricanes, spread droughts, melt glaciers, bleach corals: destroy the world.” Story here.

Soil communities threatened by destruction, instability of Amazon forests

ScienceDaily

 In this image, intact forest is deep green, while cleared areas are tan (bare ground) or light green (crops, pasture, or occasionally, second-growth forest). The fish-bone pattern of small clearings along new roads is the beginning of one of the common deforestation trajectories in the Amazon. 

A NASA photo.
The clearing and subsequent instability of Amazonian forests are among the greatest threats to tropical biodiversity conservation today. Story here.

Will the rich escape climate apocalypse?

New Internationalist

The dirty grey is smoke from Alberta wildfires this year.
Photo by NASA.
The billionaire class is preparing for doomsday. Only problem is, the rest of us aren't invited. Story here.

Albertans lose more than they gain with carbon tax repeal

PEMBINA INSTITUTE

Slave Lake, Alberta, June 2011. The aftermath of the wildfire 
that destroyed one third of the town. Photo by Mrsramsey.

Pembina Institute reacts to repeal of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Act. Story here.

Manitoba's "Protein Advantage"

A few months ago, the Government of Manitoba invited input from the public on a proposal to expand production of protein-rich food, whether plant or animal-based, in this province. It claims, meeting this fast-growing global demand offers much bigger opportunities than those which have existed before, for both farmers and investors. The province has embarked on a massive expansion of its industrial pork industry by relaxing both health and environmental regulations and obviously hopes through this new initiative,  to make it even bigger.

In this in-depth article, long-time farm activist and livestock producer, Ruth Pryzer, offers many valuable insights into why this all needs to be taken with several grains of salt.

PinP

Reckless farming is harming the planet. This could save it

CNN Business 

A common site on the Canadian prairies at seeding time. Two big tractors
with air seeders and chemical tanks attached, ready to roll. A PinP photo.

The United Nations released a dire warning recently: Climate change is here and it's a clear and present danger to our entire planet. Of course, we didn't need another report to tell us that — we see it in extreme and unusual weather, disappearing wildlife and falling farm yields. But there is one major cause of this global catastrophe that doesn't get the attention it deserves: industrial-scale chemical agriculture. Story here.

Plastic Proliferation Threatens the Climate on a Global Scale

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW.

A crab trapped in a plastic cup.

The plastic pollution crisis that overwhelms our oceans is also a significant and growing threat to the Earth’s climate. At current levels, greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle threaten the ability of the global community to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C. With the petrochemical and plastic industries planning a massive expansion in production, the problem is on track to get much worse. Story here.