'Climate Change Is Here': August Was Another Hottest Month for the Record Books

CommonDreams

Copyright © 2016 PinP

As one climate scientist noted, the temperature has risen even though this year's unusually strong El Niño is on the wane. Story here.

Biologist Stumbles Upon 2 Winged 'Beasts' New to Manitoba

CBC News

Cherry-faced Meadowhawk..... Sympetrum internum.... female

Copyright © 2016 PinP

(Not one of the "new winged beasts." Just an attractive dragonfly found in Manitoba. 😊)

A Winnipeg biologist has had not one, but two chance encounters with winged insect critters this summer that aren't supposed to be in Manitoba. Story here.

The World Has Lost a Tenth of All Its Wilderness in The Past Two Decades

The Washington Post

Mule deer - Grasslands Nat'l. Park, Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Copyright © 2016 PinP

Wilderness areas on Earth have experienced alarming losses in the past two decades, a new study suggests. Story here.

There Is an Arrest Warrant Out for Jill Stein (Leader of the Green Party in the U.S.)

THE

Nation

Why? Because she protested with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Story here.

This Momentous Event - a Huge Indigenous Protest Over an OIl Pipeline, Predictably Got Precious Little Coverage in Major US Media. (Video)

(And what coverage there was, was distorted. - Video by Democracy Now.)

Planet In Peril.- a Snapshot of Our Climate Crisis. (Video) PLEASE WATCH!

For 2016, La Niña Proves to be an Unreliable Sibling to El Niño

Mashable

With stabilizing sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, climate forecasters announced Thursday that they have canceled the La Niña watch that had been in effect since April. Story here.

Fall of the Wild: Study Documents 'Catastrophic Decline' in World's Untouched Places

CommonDreams

Great Blue heron. PinP photo.

With 10 percent lost in just 20 years, researchers say wilderness is being lost at a 'staggering' pace. Story here.

End The Use Of Secret Corporate Courts! PLEASE SIGN!

SumOfUs

What if corporations were allowed to sue governments because its laws to protect people and the environment but hurt corporate profits? What if there was a tribunal where corporate executives were able to literally get away with murder? What if there were elite educated lawyers out there whose jobs were to figure out how to sue struggling nations to make huge amounts of profit? Sign here.

The Climate Cost of Free Trade

Bilaterals.org

On Earth Day 2016, the U.S. joined 175 countries in signing the United Nations Paris climate agreement setting a path forward to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. A few months earlier, the U.S., along with 11 other countries, signed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade and investment deal.1 Remarkably, neither agreement acknowledged the other. The Paris agreement was silent on trade, and the TPP ignored the climate. As countries take action to protect the climate, conflicts between trade rules and climate goals will escalate. The intentional separation of these two global priorities is becoming increasingly untenable. Story here.

Climate Change Has Greatly Increased Chances of Rainstorms the Size of the One in Louisiana in August

World Weather Attribution

Torrential rains drenched south Louisiana in mid August, with parts of the state receiving nearly 30 inches of rain from August 10 to the 17.  Story here.