Planet-In-A-Nutshell. An Animated Video Series. HERE'S THE FIRST!

Many Months Later, Gulf of Mexico Bottom Shows Little Sign of Recovery, but Many Dead Critters

By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Sat, 19 Feb '11 

WASHINGTON - Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a top scientist's video and slides that she says demonstrate the oil isn't degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of the sea floor. Full story here.

It all began early last year when the rig, 

Deepwater Horizon, (above), exploded.

Chevron Thumbs its Nose at the Court & Ecuador Itself Over the Profound Harm it Has Inflicted on the Amazon Rain Forest & its People

DESMOGBLOG - 14 February '11 

 EDITOR'S NOTE: Once again, a despicable, soulless corporation. made possible through despicable, soulless investors, pits itself against ordinary people. WILL WE LET IT WIN? l.p.  

Read full story here.

Ozone Layer’s Future Linked Strongly to Changes in Climate, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Feb. 17, 2011) 

 The ozone layer, the thin atmospheric band high-up in the stratosphere that protects living things on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays faces potential new challenges.  Full story here.
 

"Home" a Breathtaking Panorama of our Troubled Earth. Watch the Trailer Here.

Watch the full video here.

‪
We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, GoodPlanet Fundation President

Chevron Must Pay!

Alternet - Feb. 19'11

An Ecuadorian judge ordered Chevron this week to pay $8.6 billion in damages for polluting the Amazon rainforest from 1964 until 1990. Incredibly, Chevron is known to refuse to pay such damages, even when a court orders it to do so! Read story here. 

The Body That Oversees Broadcasting in Canada, the CRTC, Drops Plan to Weaken Truth in Broadcasting Regulations

February 18, 2011 — The Wire Report
 

OTTAWA—CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein says the Commission will not proceed with changes it had been considering, to its prohibition on false and misleading news. von Finckenstein says it's because the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, which had been pressing for the changes, will no longer persue the issue. The move follows a groundswell of protest and petitions which gathered tens of thousands of names in opposition to the idea. Many saw the proposed changes as a way to help prepare for the arrival of an American-style TV network in this country which skeptics have dubbed "Fox News North." Read full story here.

Please aslso read: "Is Canada About to Descend Into An America-Style Abyss by Cheapening Our Broadcast Regulations?"

Permafrost Melt Soon Irreversible Without Major Fossil Fuel Cuts

Stephen Leahy - Inter Press Service

UXBRIDGE, Ontario, Canada, 17 Feb  Thawing permafrost is threatening to overwhelm attempts to keep the planet from getting too hot for human survival.  Read full story here.

Pipelines Carrying Oil From the Canadian Tar Sands Pose Serious Risks

By Keith Schneider - Nat. Resources Defence Council  - OnEarth Magazine - 
"A Survival Guide for the Planet" - Fe. 16 '11

NRDC photo.

Just after dawn on July 26, 2010, homeowners along Talmadge Creek near Marshall, Michigan, awoke to the chemical stench of raw fuel. Full story here.

Read Larry Powell's contributions to OnEarth magazine here.

TransCanada Runs Deceptive Ad Pushing Controversial Oil Pipeline

Friends of the Earth - Feb 17-'11

Canadian company misleads public, asserts pumping dirty Canadian tar sands oil into U.S. would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

CBC Manitoba Thinks Nothing Can Be Done About Climate Change! Larry Writes Yet Another Letter-to-the-Editor

Larry Powell

I made what I thought was a reasonable request of CBC Manitoba the other day.

I asked it to start including atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (C02), in its weather casts.

After consulting with John Sauder (CBC photo - r.), their extremely competent "weather guy"(John is Manitoba's only broadcast meteorologist), a CBC spokesperson told me, "no."

Why? Because it might be "inflammatory!"

The CBC further explained that, wind chill factors and UV levels, which they report regularly, were things upon which their listeners/viewers "can actually take some immediate, personal action."

The implication in that response is that there is nothing we can actually do about climate change! That, I found, was the most chilling part of all.

Apparently, we can no longer choose to drive smaller cars, take the bus, live close to work or just visit the Mayan Riviera every other year.

By way of background, I'm someone who realizes that global warming is real, it's happening now, and it's caused by humans. (Note, I did not say I believe in it. Because it is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of fact and science!)

The flood of the century - Red River Valley - 1997. 

We all create too many greenhouse gases through the fossil fuels we burn in the planes, trains, cars, trucks, quads and snow machines we love so much. Those gases, mostly C02, are trapping heat and leading to the warming of our planetary home. This, in turn, is creating climate change, and with it, melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, horrendous wildfires and an increase in the frequency and intensity of storms of all kinds - hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, tidal surges, snow, rain hail and ice.

So, if the CBC won't do what I asked, may I be permitted to do it myself?

Atmospheric levels of C02 now hover at about 388 parts per million. Anything above 350 is "not compatible with the planet on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted."

So, who said that? Some radical climate crank?

Not really. It's James Hansen. Hansen works for the Goddard Space Institute at NASA. He happens to be considered Earth's foremost climatologist.

So, do you feel "inflamed?" 

Perhaps you should.