Due to Global Warming, End Is Virtually Certain for New York City, Boston, Miami, Holland

Huffington Post

A new article in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS) reports that, because of carbon emissions that are virtually certain, sea levels are now set to rise anywhere from around 8 inches to 7 feet within 100 years, and around 5 yards to 10 yards within 2,000 years. Details here.

Are we on the Right Course in Combatting Insect-Borne Disease? - an editorial

PLT

My heart goes out to the Brandon man struggling to get his life back after contracting debilitating West Nile virus from an infected mosquito. Public comments by his sister, including the inference that we should be more diligent in spraying for the West Nile mosquito, are understandable. 

However, they do raise some questions for me. 

The first is, does the City of Brandon not spray for the such mosquitoes now? (There is no mention of this in the news stories I have seen.) If it does, this begs the question, is malathion as effective as it is cracked up to be for this purpose? (Malathion, by the way is an organophosphate - a member of the same family of insecticides which killed some 20 children at a school in India recently.) 

The National Round Table on Environment and Economy (a valuable think-tank now defunct thanks to the Harper wrecking crew) warned a couple of years ago about the increase in "vector-borne" diseases (ones carried by insects) due to climate change. Sadly, this warning and others similar to it have gone unheeded by government, industry and members of the public themselves. 

We do nothing to counter the ravages of climate change (like curbing our consumption of fossil fuels), yet we cling to band-aid solutions like spray programs which may be worse than questionable. They may actually be counter-productive. How do we know, for example, whether they are not actually reducing the numbers of dragon-flies, a natural enemy of the mosquitoes?  As long as we cling to "quick-fixes" like mosquito-spray programs, the further we push back effective, long-term solutions into the dim-&-distant future.

It's Just "Nature"

PLT: Just watching the news tonight. According to CTV, the latest, terrible storms, this time in Ontario & Quebec, are due to "nature." All the damage from high winds - trees crushing cars, damaging houses, knocking out power for up to a million people and killing a woman in Quebec, was just because of "nature." So is the heat wave now plaguing the maritimes, apparently. The only mention of global warming came in a promo for some stupid movie involving sharks flying through the air. With this kind of negligence, deceit and ignorance rampant in our mass media concerning the most serious environmental problem facing our planet today, God help us all. 

It's not nature, media! It's climate change! This is what it looks like! And we are to blame! 

Get used to it! Step up! Tell it like it is, you bozos!!!

P.S. CTV is not alone in its malfeasance. While most media are now mentioning the term "climate change" more than they used to, they might as well not. Without the added, necessary explanation that the reason much of this is happening is our excessive burning of fossil fuels which emits greenhouse gases which causes global warming which spawns much of these extreme weather events, it's useless. 

"Nobody Understands" Spills at Alberta Oil Sands Operation

TheStar

Oil spills at a major oil sands operation in Alberta have been ongoing for at least six weeks and have cast doubts on the safety of underground extraction methods, according to documents obtained by the Star and a government scientist who has been on site. Full story here.

Organophosphates: A Common But Deadly Pesticide

National Geographic

The pesticides blamed for killing at least 25 children in India are widely used around the world, including North America, and health experts have raised safety concerns about this class of chemicals in the past. Full story here.

Related: Are Canada's Pesticide Regulators on the Take?

Chilean Court Sides With Indians, Blocks Mine Until Barrick Gold Keeps Environmental Promises

WashingtonPost

A Chilean appeals court ruled against the world’s largest gold mining company on Monday, favouring Chilean Indians who accuse Barrick Gold Corp. of contaminating their water downstream and creating more doubts about the future of the world’s highest gold mine. Full story here.

One Step Forward, Two Back for Canada’s Parks: CPAWS’ 2013 State of Canada’s Parks Report.

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS)

In the run-up to Canada's Parks Day on the 3rd Saturday in July, the CPAWS is releasing is 5th annual report on how Canada's parks are faring. Full story here.

A magnificent vista in Jasper National Park, 

Alberta, Canada. PLT photo.