Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Global Carbon Pollution Reaches Highest Levels Yet, New Report Shows

World
Resources
Institute
The Global Carbon Project and the University of East Anglia brought unwanted news this week: 2017 saw the highest levels of carbon pollution on record.  Story here.
The Koch fertilizer plant in Brandon, MB.
PinP photo.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Canada releases report on the progress of caribou recovery-strategy - overall prognosis? Not good!

CISION
In the boreal forest, the environment and the economy are linked: all stakeholders have a part in protecting it. Our government is committed to conserving wildlife habitat and protecting species at risk in this vast swath of Canadian forest. Story here.

Photo credit - Jon Nickles 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

"In Hogs We Trust." Part 1

Could the Manitoba government’s return to a deregulated hog industry actually contribute to a world health crisis?


The Pallister government has just passed its “Red Tape Reduction and Government Efficiency Act.” The bill makes it easier (and cheaper) for pig producers to build new factory barns, expand existing ones, store and dispose of the waste and to even spend less on fire protection. 

According to the industry group, “Manitoba Pork,” as many as 100 new factory barns may now be built over the next ten years.

A CanStock Photo image.






What the Bill will not do is stop the dangerous overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Livestock owners around the world (including Manitoba’s hog producers) have long been giving these medicines to their animals, whether to treat the sick, prevent the healthy from getting sick, or simply to fatten them up for market.

This is all perfectly legal here and in many other countries.

While it's true that antibiotics are sometimes used and abused in human medications too, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) estimates “80% of all antibiotic use in Canada occurs in the raising of animals for food.” 

And, about three out of every four doses given this way, are identical to the drugs you and I need to fend off deadly infections.

The PHAC goes on, “There is increasing evidence that the use of antimicrobial agents in livestock production is an important contributing factor to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans.” AMRs are sometimes called “superbugs” which, because of this inappropriate use, have developed a resistance to treatment by most or all of the medicines available today. They spread to humans who have either eaten pork, beef or chickens treated in a similar manner.


And, if the world needed any more convincing, the respected New England Journal of Medicine calls AMR "a critical threat to public health." 

So scenarios where doctors have to advise their patients that “There’s nothing more I can do for you," are, alarmingly, becoming more frequent. 

Three days before the Manitoba bill was approved, the World Health Organization sounded its most urgent alarm yet over the administering of antibiotics to food animals. The WHO says things must change, if we are to preserve the effectiveness of these life-saving medications. The UN agency advised farmers and the food industry everywhere, to simply stop giving animals such medications altogether, whether to promote growth or prevent disease. Healthy animals should only be treated if disease is diagnosed elsewhere in the same herd. And, even while treating animals already sick, only medications not considered critical for the treatment of human infections, should be used.













But data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are even more alarming. It reports that AMR is “highly prevalent” in the 35 developed countries it represents, (including Canada). 

It estimates the yearly loss of life, worldwide, probably runs into the tens of thousands, already. But current rates of resistance are increasing to the point where ten million people a year could be dying in this way by 2050! 

This, the OECD notes, would "move the needle" on the human cost of AMRs, from “substantial” to “enormous.” While the bulk of the deaths would be in Africa and Asia (see OECD table, above), there could still be 700 thousand in North America by that time. (No breakdown is given for Canada.)


Why, you ask, would an economic organization get involved in a health issue? Because, it expects future increases in health costs to also be enormous; almost $3 trillion by 2050, for OECD countries alone! That's because AMR patients are sick longer, need more (and costly) treatments, more tests and are three times more likely to die.

With new barns and more hogs now on Manitoba’s horizon, only pro-industry spin-doctors would dare to suggest that this won’t mean more antibiotics, as well. (The OECD expects such usage to increase by a staggering two thirds by 2030.) 

I have e-mailed both Premier Pallister and the industry group, **Manitoba Pork, to ask them about these concerns. Neither has responded, so far.

So, if the world pays as little heed to this prevailing medical wisdom as the Pallister government and the industry are doing, for this Manitoban, "optimistic" just got harder to be. 

Larry Powell  is an activist and journalist living in Shoal Lake, where he publishes www.PlanetInPeril.ca

-30-
















  •   ** Larry Powell
    To:info@manitobapork.com
    Nov. 5, 2017 at 9:07 p.m.

    Dear Manitoba Pork,

    I'm a journalist based in Shoal Lake. I am writing a series of stories on the effects if Bill 24  on your industry. 

    I have a couple of questions for now and possibly more in future.
    • How would you describe the extent to which antibiotics are administered in the hog barns of Manitoba? Is it common? Occasional? For treatment? Prevention? Growth promotion? All three?
    • Do you have any plans to modify this usage, perhaps because of warnings from the WHO and others of the danger of such practice in promoting the growth of superbugs, dangerous to human health?
    Many thanks for your prompt attention.

    Sincerely,
    Shoal Lake, Manitoba.
    P  Before printing think about the environment




Monday, November 13, 2017

Rights of Nature Emerges as Strong Alternative to Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Framework


Indigenous Environmental Network


BONN, Germany – After one week of the climate conference, it is clear that many believe the general climate framework will not resolve chaotic climate conditions. Story here.

More than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries issue 'warning to humanity'

CBCnews


A similar warning was first issued by scientists in 1992. Story here.

Aftermath of Hurricane Maria - 2017.
Photo by Filo gĆØn'

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Door opens to hog expansion in the Canadian province of Manitoba

Manitoba Co-operator

Anaerobic digesters out, new barns in. Story here.

RELATED: More alarm bells sound over drug usage in the world’s intensive livestock operations.

Friday, November 10, 2017

Thousands of pigs die as southern Manitoba hog barn goes up in flames

CBCnews

Fire commissioner's office investigating the cause of the blaze. Story here.

Climate Change Health Impacts Demand Urgent Action

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment 


“The human symptoms of climate change are unequivocal and potentially irreversible – affecting the health of populations around the world, today. Whilst these effects will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in society, every community will be affected.” Details here.

Wildfires in Portugal. Wikimedia Commons.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Animal Farmers & Others - Use Antibiotics Responsibly! WHO

9 November 2017, Geneva/Rome/Paris - In the lead-up to World Antibiotic Awareness Week (13-19 November 2017), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are together calling for responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world and threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases. Infections affecting people – including pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning and gonorrhoea – and animals alike are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

Antibiotics are often overprescribed by physicians and veterinarians and overused by the public. Where they can be bought for human or animal use without a prescription, the emergence and spread of resistance is made worse. Examples of misuse include taking antibiotics for viral infections like colds and flu, and using them as animal growth promoters on farms or in aquaculture.

To tackle these problems, WHO, FAO and OIE are leveraging their expertise and working together in a ‘One Health’ approach to promote best practices to reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes in both humans and animals.

“Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis that we cannot ignore,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “If we don’t tackle this threat with strong, coordinated action, antimicrobial resistance will take us back to a time when people feared common infections and risked their lives from minor surgery."

“The overuse of antimicrobials blunts their effectiveness, and we must reduce their misuse in food systems,” says JosĆ© Graziano da Silva, Director-General of FAO. “Antimicrobial veterinary medicines are a crucial tool for animal health and welfare and safe food production, but they are by no means the only tool.”

“Like in human health, veterinary medicine has tremendously progressed thanks to antibiotics. Preserving their efficacy and availability through their responsible use associated with good husbandry and prevention practices, is therefore essential to preserve animal health and welfare,” highlights Dr Monique Eloit, Director-General of OIE.

==============RELATED: More alarm bells sound over drug usage in the world's intensive livestock operations. Will Manitoba listen?

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Stephen Hawking Says Earth Will Become ‘Sizzling Ball of Fire’ in 600 Years

EcoWatch









PinP photo
Last year, scientist Stephen Hawking gave humans a shelf-life of 1,000 more years on EarthApparently, 2017 hasn't been to his liking—as Hawking shaved another 400 years off that prediction. Story here.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Made-in-Manitoba carbon tax falls short, says Arctic climate change expert


CBCnews

Sea-ice researcher David Barber argues provincial $25-per-tonne tax a good start but not aggressive enough. Story here.

The flooded rail line to Churchill. 
Photo by Omnitrax.

Health Canada probes claim that government officials helped pesticide company overturn a ban

CANADA'S                                                                                                                                ...