Greenland’s Ice Sheet Is Melting So Fast Right Now, Scientists Thought It Was an Error

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The margin of the Greenland ice sheets. Hannes Grobe, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. 1992.

On Monday, Greenland began to melt. Parts of Greenland melt every year and the whole thing freezes again each winter, but lately, thanks to global warming, the melting has come earlier and then peaked in the summer at higher levels than usual. Story here.

Mekong: A River Rising

theguardian

The Ya Ly Dam, one of the largest in Viet Nam, on a major tributary of the Mekong. A Wikimedia Commons photo. 

The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong river. With world leaders meeting in Paris next week for crucial UN climate talks,  John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway - a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they must solve. He meets people struggling to deal with the impacts of climate change as well as the ecological havoc created by giant dams, deforestation, coastal erosion and fast-growing cities. Story here.

Greens Want a Manitoba Wildlife Area Protected

White-tailed deer in western Manitoba. PinP photo.

Winnipeg, April 14, 2016: “The Green Party urges the next government of Manitoba to uphold the law and protect the Whitemud Watershed Wildlife Management Area from the proposed Energy East pipeline,”  said David Nickarz, Green Party of Manitoba critic for Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship.

Wildfires, Once Confined to a Season, Burn Earlier and Longer

New York Times

The first Alaska wildfire of 2016 broke out in late February, followed by a second there just eight days later. Story here.

Two-Thirds of Europeans Support Ban on Glyphosate, Says Poll

the guardian

PinP photo.

Concerns remain chemical widely used in agriculture as a herbicide can kill all plants, algae, bacteria and fungi in a crop’s vicinity, affecting biodiversity. Story here.

RELATED: "Field of Nightmares - Ottawa continues to embrace the widespread use of Roundup on Canadian farms by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence."

The Great God of Growth - Is He Always Right? (Letter)

Dear Editor,

I still find political attitudes towards growth puzzling, to say the least. What kind of growth, you ask? Economic growth? Population growth? Well, it doesn’t really matter. Our politicians want it, in great dollops, as if it was the key to the Kingdom.