Salmon with side effects: Aquacultures are polluting Chile's rivers with a cocktail of dissolved organic substances

ScienceNews

Salmon farming in Reloncavi Estuary, Chile. Photo by Pablo Rodríguez

Tasty, versatile, and rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids: salmon is one of the most popular edible fish of all. Shops sell fish caught in the wild, but their main produce is salmon from breeding farms which can pollute rivers, lakes and oceans. Just how big is the problem? Scientists are working to answer this question by examining the dissolved organic compounds which enter Chile’s rivers from salmon farms. They warn that these substances are placing huge strain on ecosystems and are changing entire biological communities. More here.

Scientists struggle to explain a worrying rise in atmospheric methane

The Economist

A PinP photo.

In the past decade methane levels have shot up, to the extent that the atmosphere contains two-and-a-half times as much of the gas as it did before the Industrial Revolution. More here.

Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river

The Guardian

A narrows in the Meykong - Laos. Photo by Hector Garcia.

Government-commissioned report says proposed site is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife. More here.

RELATED: "Mekong - a River Rising."

Investors urge fossil fuel firms to shun Trump's Arctic drilling plans

The Guardian

The Porcupine herd on its home range - the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. It's feared the decision last year by the U.S. Senate to allow oil drilling there will disrupt and endanger the herd, considered the largest and healthiest on the continent. Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 

Oil extraction in Alaskan wilderness area would be an ‘irresponsible business decision’, trillion-dollar investors say. More here.

RELATED: "Oil drilling threatens yet another caribou herd" - by Larry Powell.

The race to save Arctic cities (in Canada & elsewhere) as permafrost melts

NATIONAL OBSERVER

In Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, a good home is hard to find. More here.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The walls of this immense Siberian crater are more than 85 meters tall in places. Batagaika Crater has formed as rising temperatures have thawed the permafrost in Siberia. Warmer summers and shorter winters are causing the frozen layer cake of ice and soil to collapse (or “slump”) and erode away in much of the Arctic. 

Modern, U.S. Family Farm Pastures its Pigs.

RODALE

INSTITUTE

A behind the scenes look at the Rodale Institute Organic Hog Facility with Farm Manager Ross Duffield. More here.

Alien Waters: Neighbouring Seas Are Flowing into a Warming Arctic Ocean

Yale Environment 360

Drift ice in the archipelago of Svalbard. Photo by AWeith 

The “Atlantification” and “Pacification” of the Arctic has begun. As warmer waters stream into an increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean, new species — from phytoplankton to whales — have the potential to upend this sensitive polar environment. More here.

Beavers do 'dam' good work cleaning water

ScienceDaily

A PinP photo.

Beavers could help clean up polluted rivers and stem the loss of valuable soils from farms, new research shows. More here.

Has Canada made itself vulnerable to a catastrophe on the scale of the Deepwater Horizon?

NATIONAL OBSERVER

An investigation by Joel Ballard indicates there is reason to believe that's exactly what Canada has done. More here.

The Deepwater Horizon. 
Photo by the US Coast Guard.

China-backed Sumatran dam threatens the rarest ape in the world

TheConversation

The plan to build a massive hydropower dam in Sumatra as part of China’s immense Belt and Road Initiative threatens the habitat of the rarest ape in the world, which has only 800 remaining members. More here.

Photo by Tim Laman

Agroecology: A better alternative in Sub-Saharan Africa

ScienceNews

Two "big rigs" ready to begin work in western Manitoba. PinP photo.

Agroecology is a better alternative than large-scale agriculture, both for the climate and for small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to researcher. This agricultural model preserves biodiversity and safeguards food supply while avoiding soil depletion. More here.