Canada Has More to Offer the World Than Oil

Eric Swanson at Apr 15, 2011 DOGWOOD Initiative
Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel has been getting a lot of attention lately while pushing his view that his Northern Gateway oil supertanker proposal for B.C.’s coast presents a profound choice. We couldn’t agree more. Details here.

Manitoba Floods Close Main Highway Artery Into the 'States - Is THIS Climate Change?

by Larry Powell - In its latest flood bulletin, the Government of Manitoba has announced it has closed a key access road between Winnipeg and North Dakota, PTH 75, (l.) "as a result of rising floodwater."   

                           

The flooding is already covering a larger area of the province than ever before. And flood levels in the Red River Valley are expected to top leves in 2009, the 2nd worst flood in the province in 150 yrs.    

There have been hundreds of rural road closures, states of emergency and evacuations of both residences and personal care homes.         

                

Two deaths have been attributed to the flooding.    

                                    

 Ice jams on the Assiniboine River west of Winnipeg yesterday caused the water to rise almost 2 meters (6ft). The jams have now moved out, sending water downstream. And that is expected to raise water levels of 30 cm (1 ft) going into Winnipeg. 

The Town of Melita (in the southwest of the province) has declared a state of local emergency.  Work is ongoing on the Melita dike to protect the community. 

The Assiniboine Valley at St. Lazare 

A section of the ring dike at St-Lazare will be raised by approximately 30cm as a precautionary measure in preparation for high flows from the Qu'Appelle River expected later this week.     

 This bridge, (r.) near the confluence of the Qu'Appelle and Assiniboine Rivers at St. Lazare, had very little "freeboard" beneath it, when I visited there yesterday (Sunday) and the crests haven't even arrived yet!

A second peak is expected over the weekend along the Qu'Appelle River. Part of PTH 41 is expected to close because of high waters.

Due to high flows on the Assiniboine, the Portage Diversion has been operated at or near maximum  capacity for the last three days. 

 

This is the normally docile Boggy Creek, now swollen and rushing toward Lake of the Prairies, on the Assiniboine River near Roblin. (All photos & video by l.p.)

PUBLISHER'S COMMENT: Is it global warming?

I put that question to the chief climatologist at Environment Canada, Dave Phillips. I had sent him a news account out of the States. In it, climate scientists suggested a link between the extreme blizzards which struck the eastern seaboard in the previous two winters, ("Snowmageddons") and climate change. As they explained, that's because a warmer atmosphere can hold a lot more precipitation - hence, more intense rainfalls/snowfalls. So I asked Mr. Phillips whether this might be the case in this country, as well. Here is his response, in an email to me on March 14th. l.p.

======

 Hello Larry:
 
Thank you for your question and reference to the newspaper article. (...That article...) focused on weather in the United States but the circulation pattern described in the piece is also influencing the weather here in Canada.  For example what the writer says about the Red River in North Dakota applies equally so in Manitoba and most Canadians in Atlantic Canada will say this winter has been especially difficult with its parade of storms.  I think that climate is having the same effect on our extremes as in the United States.  What is especially becoming evident in recent years is the increased variability of the weather and that likely is associated with altered climate.  More so there seems to be an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfalls.  We are seeing that in Canada.  More of our flooding events come from intense rainfalls than snow and and ice melting events which were the big flood producers of the past.  Just last month a seminal ariticle appeared in Nature linking rainfall intensity with anthropogenic climate change.  Again, I think if you look for them there are changes in the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme weather events in Canada just as there are in the United States.
Thanks for your interest Larry.
 
David Phillips

US Meat and Poultry Is Widely Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Staph Bacteria, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2011) — Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (r.), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates...Details here.

Conversation with Deepak Chopra - GE Alfalfa - Video

deepakhomebase on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Since the making of this video, the USDA has, to its everlasting shame, approved both GE alfalfa and GE sugarbeets. Canada threatens to do the same! l.p.

Catastrophe In The gulf of Mexico: Devastation Persists One Year After Spill

Centre for Biological Diversity Apr 12'11
It’s been a year since BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people and unleashing the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Details here.

Dam Construction Is Set to Destroy the 'Mother of all Rivers'

AlterNet / By Aviva Imhof - Apr 15 '11

A series of dams proposed along the Mekong River threaten 41 fish species with extinction and puts the livelihoods of nearly half a million people at risk. Details here.

The Red River Valley Could be Headed for its Second-Worst Flooding in a-Century-&-a-Half - The Gov't. of Manitoba

In its latest flood bulletin, the Government of Manitoba states, "While the upper level of the forecast range has been reduced slightly, it still remains somewhat above 2,009 levels for all points on the Red River. 2009 was the second-largest flood in the past 150 years."

While cooler-than-normal temperatures will blunt the severity of the flooding, it will also make it last longer than it otherwise would, the Government adds.

A swollen stream spills into Boggy Creek, just above Lake of the Prairies (on the Assiniboine River system) in western Manitoba.

PUBLISHER'S COMMENT: It's only mid-April. Yet,  already two people have died and hundreds more have been displaced in flood-related incidents. Scores of roads have been washed out and many homes and businesses are isolated by the floodwaters. Ranchers report conditions hazardous for their livestock. At least three personal care homes have been evacuated. At least one boil-water advisory has been ordered. The main CN rail line was damaged for a time and trains re-routed. In neighboring Saskatchewan, flooding closed the Trans Canada Highway east of Regina and there are fears for the safety of drinking water. 

Just how much longer can the "powers that be" ignore the role that climate change is surely playing in these catastrophic events? One would think the increase in the frequency and severity of these occurrences are now plain for all to see. In a saner world, it surely ought to be more than enough to prompt a response in the form of regulations to control greenhouse gas emissions. 

On the contrary, here in Manitoba, we are seeing:

• Exploration for oil, a non-renewable, unsustainble, climate-change-producing resource, at an all-time high.
• Massive excavation and earth-movinig in preparation for "Centreport," a misguided megaproject to turn Winnipeg into a "hub" for just about any mode of transport you can imagine, connecting the city with the rest of the continent, including Mexico and Nunavut! It's promoters call it "world-class." I call it Greenhouse-Gas City!"
• A massive expansion of the Winnipeg airport, to accomodate many more jetliners, among the worst contributors to the climate change crisis. 
• Rather than take measures which attack the root-causes of climate change, massive machines break up ice jams, dig deeper trenches and higher dikes, producing more harmful emissions in the process.
• Meanwhile, greenhouse gases in this province are, like most other places, on the rise. Yet we are apparently supposed to believe this government is, somehow,"green!!!!" l.p. 

Please also read: "Prairie Flooding Delays Seeding Two Weeks So Far."