Roundup-Ready Alfalfa Goes Wild in the US West

ECOLOGIST

A USDA study shows that a GM alfalfa has gone wild in alfalfa-growing parts of the West. More here

NASA Warns Lawmakers to Act Now, After Record-Smashing Year of Global Warming

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

Weird cloud formations in Manitoba. PinP photo.

Announcing that 2015 was the hottest year on record, NASA issued a warning to policy makers that they need to act on climate change. More here

Outcry Over the Austerity Crisis in Flint, Michigan Grows

  THE

Nation

Details of how Flint’s water was contaminated, and of how pleas for help were neglected, are leading to calls for inquiries, arrest, resignation. More here.

Shock Figures to Reveal Deadly Toll of Global Air Pollution

theguardian

Burning trees in Manitoba, Canada. PinP photo.

World Health Organisation describes new data as ‘health emergency’, with rising concern likely to influence decision over Heathrow expansion. Story here.

RELATED: "It's Time to Wake Up and Smell the Smoke."

Number of England's Marine Conservation Zones Nearly Doubles

theguardian

But leading marine conservationist warns that MCZs are ‘paper parks’ and will offer wildlife no real protection from destructive dredging and trawling. More here.

Pelicans in Manitoba, 

Canada. PinP photo.

American Billionaire Set to Open Cape Breton (Canada) Coal Mine

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

While other Canadian provinces phase out coal, Nova Scotia is defiantly preparing to open its first coal mine since the last one closed in 2001 - this one under the ownership of a secretive American billionaire with ties to the Carlyle Group and Jeb Bush. More here.