Farm Expansion Driving US Native Bee Declines

The Ecologist

Bumble bees on chives. PinP photo.

Wild bee decline is closely associated with the advance of intensive farming and habitat loss, a new study shows. It follows an earlier paper that linked 'delayed action' decline of wild bees to exposure to pesticides including fungicides - previously considered 'bee-safe'. More here.

2015 Was The Costliest US Wildfire Season Ever

climateprogress

Burning through over 9.8 million acres — an area roughly the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined — the 2015 wildfire season was the most expensive on record. More here.

Need for More Disaster Planning in Rural Manitoba

Manitoba Co-Operator

Hoarfrost buildup on power lines has become all-too-common in Manitoba. This was the scene in Dec. 2012. PinP photo.

A seminar Jan. 14 in Portage la Prairie will look at how the risk environment is changing in rural Manitoba. Details here.

Thanks, Climate Change. Extreme Weather Wreaking Havoc Across Globe

CommonDreams

'Biblical' flooding in the UK has forced hundreds of evacuations, while fatal storms in U.S. have killed at least 43 people. More here.

There's A Way to Save Our Future. So Why Aren't More People Talking About It?

CommonDreams

PinP blogger, Larry Powell, 

plants a cover crop on his organic 

acreage in Manitoba. (Circa 2000) PinP photo.

Transitioning to organic regenerative agriculture practices 'offers the best, and perhaps our only, hope for averting a global warming disaster.' More here.

Raven Thundersky, Indigenous Health Advocate, Dies at 50

CBC News

'The last thing she did was smile,' Thundersky's daughter Raven-Dominique Gobeil says. Story here.

World's Lakes Are Warming Surprisingly Quickly Due to Climate Change

CBC News

Clear Lk. MB. PinP photo.

Canadian lakes and those that are ice-covered in winter are warming twice as fast as others. Story here.

Life and Death

George Monbiot - the Guardian

The remarkable decline in violence between humans suggests that we could also restrain our violence against the planet. More here.

Are we Going to Sit Back And Wait For the Next Mine Waste Disaster?

New Internationalist

‘If the dam had collapsed at night, everyone would have died.’

These chilling words came from….More here.

Liability for Climate (In)Action: Who Will be Next?

CIEL Center for International Environmental Law

This summer, we celebrated a big win for the climate.  In a lawsuit brought by Urgenda and nearly 900 co-plaintiffs against the Dutch government (Urgenda Foundation et al. v. The Netherlands), the District Court of The Hague found that the government “acted negligently” when it adopted an unambitious climate policy that poses a threat to human rights in the Netherlands. More here.

The ‘Unfolding Global Disaster’ Happening Right Under Our Feet.

CLIMATEPROGRESS

Organic squash in Manitoba.  PinP photo.

With all that’s going on in the world — from record-breaking warm spells to rapidly melting ice sheets — it’s easy to ignore something so seemingly mundane as dirt. But scientists at the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Center for Sustainable Futures suggest that we ignore dirt at our own peril. Details here.