Monday, August 13, 2018

A call for seagrass protection


Science Magazine
Sanc0209 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg
By Heather Dine. - NOAA Photo Library
Seagrass meadows - one of the most widespread coastal habitats on Earth - are in decline. Human coastal development and poor water quality are threatening the meadows - home to a wide array of marine plants and animals. More here.

Scourge of superbugs killing Malawi’s babies


The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Babies are dying in their thousands in Malawi because drugs to treat common infections no longer work. We went to investigate. 








Saturday, August 11, 2018

Why Is Glyphosate Sprayed on Crops Right Before Harvest?


EcoWatch
Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, is recognized as the world's most widely used weed killer. What is not so well known is that farmers also use glyphosate on crops such as wheat, oats, edible beans and other crops right before harvest, raising concerns that the herbicide could get into food products. Story here.

Friday, August 10, 2018

EPA ordered to ban pesticide linked to learning disabilities

The Guardian
A "crop-duster" sprays a pesticide on a canola crop in Manitoba. 
A PinP photo.
A federal court said the US agency must prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos after seven states and DC backed the case against it. Story here.

In 2,006, I told the story of  a farmer in the Swan Valley of Manitoba. He said he and his family were sickened when the same chemical, chlorpyrifos (brand name, Lorsban) drifted onto his property from a field across the road. Read the terrifying tale of the Burqharts here. And listen to my report on CBC Radio (with images), below.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

A Third Smithfield Lawsuit Verdict Creates Alarm Among Producers


FarmJournal’s PORK

A Smithfield operation in Missouri. A Wikimedia photo. 
A third lawsuit against Smithfield Foods had found the company guilty for “unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors, flies and rumbling trucks.” A federal jury placed the fine at $473.5 million to six neighbors of pig farms. STORY HERE.

Related: 

  •                                                                            "In Hogs We Trust"  

                                           A critique of hog industry expansion in Manitoba.








Monday, August 6, 2018

Earth's Carbon Concentrations Have Soared to Levels Not Seen in 800,000 Years


ComonDreams
Sunset on the Canadian prairies. A PinP photo.

One NOAA oceanographer warns that even if humanity "stopped the greenhouse gases at their current concentrations today, the atmosphere would still continue to warm for next couple decades to maybe a century." Story here.

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

CANADA'S                                                                                                                                ...