Humans Now Strongest Driver of Glaciers Melting, Study Finds

                                  TheGuardian  

During the last two decades two thirds of glacial mass loss was due to humans, up from a quarter previously. More here.  

  







Traffic is bumper to bumper as people clamor to see the sites in Jasper National Park, CA, including the receding Columbia Icefield (r). PinP photos.

Big Farm Groups Adopt the "Ostrich Approach" to Major Environmental Issues.

by Larry Powell

It has been exactly two weeks since I contacted Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), Manitoba's main farm lobby group, to comment on my story, "New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's toxic hold on nature becoming a death grip?" 

(It appeared both on this blog on July 30th and subsequently in the Virden Empire Advance weekly. A number of other publications declined to publish.) 

I reported on new research showing that insecticides, widely used on crops in this province and elsewhere, were associated with declines in populations of birds which eat insects. The chemicals, members of the "neonicotinoid" family, are the same ones which have, for some time, also been linked to large and significant declines in populations of pollinators, especially honeybees. 

Purple Martins. Among the "insectivorious" 

birds on the decline. Larry Powell - PinP photo.

The vast majority of conventional farmers, many who belong to KAP, sow seeds treated with "neonics," described as the most widely-used insecticide in the world.

My e-mail asked whether KAP, which describes itself as "Manitoba's general farm policy organization," feels any sense of responsibility for what seem to be escalating problems with the toxicity of the products in question.

I addressed my request to no less than six officials of the farm organization. 

Not one has responded!

I made the same request of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), which claims to be "a voice for 200,000 farm families at the national level." 

Like KAP, CFA did not respond, either!

What are Canadians to make of this; That the producers they represent do not care about the environment? 

I find this hard to believe. I've known many farmers over the years who claim to take their role as "stewards of the land" very seriously, indeed. 

So, are these organizations not doing justice to their members? 

Until they come clean and begin publicly confronting pressing issues such as this, head-on, I guess we'll all just have to keep wondering...

-30-

Ex-Staffer With the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Guilty of Election Fraud in Robocalls Case

The Canadian Press

GUELPH, Ont. - Former Conservative party staffer Michael Sona has been convicted of trying to prevent voters from casting ballots during the 2011 federal election. Details here.

Tell US Department of Agriculture and President Obama to Stop Dow Chemical’s "Agent Orange" Crops

Center for Food Safety

Over a hundred million additional pounds of toxic pesticides associated with cancers and birth defects are coming to a field near you. UNLESS YOU STOP IT! To help, click here.

"Crop-Duster."

PIP photo.

Please also read: "New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?"

Canola Growers in Canada "Working to Reduce Honeybee Winterkill"

The Manitoba Co-Operator

CNS Canada – The number of Prairie canola acres makes the region a great place for honeybees to thrive — but given increasing winterkill rates, canola growers must make sure they take the precautions needed to maintain that relationship. Full story here.

Related: "New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?"

One Little Piggy Had Birth Defects: Is Monsanto's Roundup to Blame?

Alternet

A herbicide marketed by Monsanto is linked to a string of birth defects in pigs. Full story here.

Related: "Field of Nightmares. Ottawa embraces the use of Roundup by Canadian farmers by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence."

Aboriginal Rights a Threat to Canada's Resource Agenda, Documents Reveal

The Guardian

Canadian government closely monitoring how legal rulings and aboriginal protest pose an increasing ‘risk’ for multi-billion dollar oil and mining plans. Details here.

Photo Credit - Idle No More.

Phosphorus and Freedom - The Libertarian Fantasy

By PAUL KRUGMAN - New York Times - AUG. 10, 2014

In the latest Times Magazine, Robert Draper profiled youngish libertarians — roughly speaking, people who combine free-market economics with permissive social views — and asked whether we might be heading for a “libertarian moment.” Well, probably not. Polling suggests that young Americans tend, if anything, to be more supportive of the case for a bigger government than their elders. But I’d like to ask a different question: Is libertarian economics at all realistic?

The answer is no. And the reason can be summed up in one word: phosphorus.

Will You Chip in Today so We Can Send an Independent Researcher up to Lake Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada to do INDEPENDENT Water Quality Tests?

Sum

Of

+Us

The results are in! Apparently the residents of Likely, BC are safe to drink the water after 4.5 million cubic metres of toxic material from Mount Polley Mine’s tailings pond poured into their water supply. But when we look a bit closer, we know things aren’t right. Details here.

Related: "Huge Environmental Disaster at a British Columbia Gold Mine Follows Years of Government Warnings"

Global Warming Will Make Algae Worse

Columbus Dispatch

Scientists say climate change is exacerbating toxic-algae problems in Lake Erie and across the country. Details here.

Time For a Hold on New Mine Proposals in British Columbia, Canada

David Suzuki Foundation
British Columbians watched news coverage of the Mount Polley Mine disaster with shock and concern after a collapsed dam released almost 15 million cubic metres of toxic effluent into the salmon-rich Quesnel River systems. In addition to concerns for area residents' immediate health and safety, dead fish are appearing and there are fears the spill could cause harm right up to the Fraser River. Details here.

Please Also read: "Huge Environmental Disaster at a British Columbia Gold Mine Follows Years of Government Warnings."