The Cost of Doing Nothing (about Climate Change)!

This is the CBC (aerial) video of the dike being deliberately breached at the Hoop & Holler Bend in the Assiniboine River, near Portage La Prairie.

A Grandpa's Plea for Future Generations

David Suzuki - Science Matters - May 13'11

We shouldn't expect the kids to clean up our mess.

Harper Ignores Climate Change to his Discredit

NOTE; My letter below, now appears in the Winnipeg Free Press online at: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/121825344.html as "Ditches not enough."
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Dear Editor,

It was quite a spectacle.

There was Prime Minister Harper, who once called climate change "a Communist plot," blissfully inspecting the devastation it has created in Manitoba before his very eyes.

But rather than launching a frontal attack on its root causes, he predictably promised to help Manitoba dig deeper ditches and build higher dikes.
 
Scientists who know the most about the topic have warned for years that climate change is playing a role in the terrible storms around the world which are getting worse and more frequent. And that, in all likelihood, includes the worst flooding this province has seen in centuries.

So, if we hope to protect our earthly home in more meaningful, lasting ways, we need to cut back on the fossil fuels we burn in our cars and passenger planes. We need meaningful emission control regulations and clean energy sources now.

If this is not done, we will surely be placing future generations at even higher risk.

But I'm not naive.

I know that scandalous neglect by governments, industry and individuals has gone on for so long, we now have no choice but to take the kind of heroic and desperate measures to flood-proof our province which we are now taking.

I also know that action by Canada alone, won't go very far. This is a global problem. It needs global co-operation.

But leadership and backbone by Harper and his newly-minted government would go a long way.

Too bad they have neither.

Maybe in four years.

Larry Powell
Roblin, Manitoba, CA
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Please also read: High Waters: A Climate Connection to the Mississippi River Floods?

The Canadian Wheat Board's Going... Now What?

By: Laura Rance - Wpg. Free Press - Posted: 05/7/2011 
Monopoly did much more for farmers than just sell their grain for them. Details here.

Climate Change May Not Only Be Causing More Mega-Fires, Those Very Fires May, in Turn, be Worsening Climate Change!

May 10-'11 Food & Agriculture Organization

scrape TV 

FAO calls for wildfire emissions monitoring and comprehensive fire management strategies. 

Details here.

Divisive Dams Approved in Patagonia, Chile

International Rivers - 9/5/11
Coyhaique, Chile - A five-dam hydroelectric scheme that locals fear will destroy the character of one of Chile's most important wild regions was approved today.  Details here.

Manitoba's Flood Picture Remains Challenging

Manitoba News Release - May 8, 2011 - FLOOD BULLETIN #38 - Manitoba Water Stewardship reports:
*    A three-day unstable weather system is expected to bring widespread rain ranging from 20 to 50 millimetres across the entire southern Manitoba watershed. 

The Assiniboine River, just below the Shellmouth Dam.

Due to recent rain, soils have a reduced capacity to retain water and any further rain will likely run off into streams and rivers. 
*Communities along the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Headingley are advised that water levels along the river will be increasing in approximately two to four days.  The unprecedented flows are a result of last week's weekend storm, the timing of the melt from the storm and additional rainfall forecast for this week.  
*Water levels on the Assiniboine River at the First Street Bridge in Brandon are 1,182.17 ft., an increase of 0.87 ft. since yesterday. 

*    Protective dikes in Brandon are being raised another two feet today in preparation for heavy rains expected in the next two to three days.

*    In Brandon, PTH 110 is being protected by large flood-barrier tubes put in place yesterday.  The road is open but down to one lane and is flagged and marked.

*    Dikes are being raised at 18th Street to add a third super-sandbag layer.  Dikes are being closely monitored on First Street, which may need to be closed later today as a safety precaution.  Pumps are also running at both locations.

*    Provincial sandbags are being delivered to Brandon to support flood-fighting efforts.   

*    Water levels on the Assiniboine River at the First Street Bridge in Brandon are 1,182.17 ft., an increase of 1.18 ft. since yesterday.

 Without the Shellmouth Reservoir, (r.) water levels at Brandon would be three ft. higher.  
 Natural flows on the Assiniboine River at Brandon today would be comparable to the 1882 flood without the benefits provided by the reservoir.

Evacuations Possible in Brandon Due to Rising River

Winnipeg Free Press - 05/6/2011
Faulty gauge led to innaccurate water level readings. Details here.

Water thunders over the Shellmouth Dam spillway, upstream of Brandon in late April, with the reservoir behind it at near capacity. (l.p. photo)

Probe Demanded After Worst Alberta Oil Spill in Four Decades

 By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald May 5, 2011

Read more here.

An Update on Manitoba's & Saskatchewan's (Climate-Spawned?) Flooding

-by Larry Powell
In the community of Eriksdale, north of Winnipeg, flooding is now threatening homes, the hospital and personal care home. 



A farm home near Yorkton, SK, isolated by floodwaters.

A flood warning is in effect for the Dauphin Lake Basin, including Parkland and the Duck Mountains, especially once the snow melts & there's lots of that yet to come. Runoff from Riding Mountain has already increased the flows of the Valley, Vermillion and Ochre Rivers significantly. The Turtle River has risen by over a meter (4 ft) since Monday! 

Runoff from both the "Ducks" and Riding Mountain are adding significantly to the flow of the Assiniboine River. Because of a swollen Assiniboine, points downstream, St. Lazare, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg are still under a continuous and prolonged flood watch. Conditions on the Assiniboine have been affected by the same blizzard and heavy rains which struck a wide area last weekend.

The huge Lake of the Prairies near the Saskatchewan border (the Shellmouth Reservoir) was "drawn down" to extremely low levels in recent weeks to accomodate expected crests from upstream. 

A dry spillway at Shellmouth Dam (late April)

Those crests have now arrived and 10,000 cubic feet per second is now flowing over the dam and will be for the next couple of days! (see video - May 3rd.) 

As has already been stated in this space, this is the largest flood, in area, ever recorded in this province. Flood waters affect communities in virtually all parts, from the Pas, south. Cool weather and wet conditions will mean continued flood misery well into the summer.

Hundres of people remain displaced, hundreds of roads are closed and scores of "states of emergencies" have been declared. 

Flooding on the Red is described as the 3rd worst in a-century-&-a-half.

UN Targets Widely-Used Pesticide Endosulfan for Phase-Out

Geneva, 3 May 2011

 

Representatives from 127 Governments meeting in Geneva last week agreed to add endosulfan to the United Nations' list of persistent organic pollutants to be eliminated worldwide. Details here.