Only With Political Will Can we Avoid the Worst of Climate Change

David Suzuki

It's fitting that the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released during Earth Month. Details here.

U.S. Schoolchildren Exposed to Arsenic in Well Water Have Lower IQs

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

In Maine study, rates of contamination exceed WHO and EPA guidelines. Details here.

Related: Keep Arsenic Out of the Water in Virden, Manitoba - an Open Letter to the Minister of Environment.

Does El Niño Plus Global Warming Equal Global Temperature Records This Year and Next?

ClimateProgress

An El Niño appears increasingly likely this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If it starts relatively quickly, then 2014 could well be the hottest year on record. But if it is a strong El Niño, then 2015 would likely break all previous global records. Details here.
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In January of 2011, I wrote the following here on PLT in a post I entitled:

Is Canada's Flagship TV Newscast Telling the Whole Story of Climate Change?

Both La Niñas (cooling trends) and El Niños (warming ones), have been scientifically shown to be behaving strangely in recent years, with the onset of global warming.

In the early ‘90s, several El Niños were recorded, but with no La Niñas in between! The IPCC describes this occurrence as"highly unusual and very unlikely to be accounted for solely by natural variability.”

In a research paper in 1996, Dr. Trenberth noted this same event was “the longest on record…and opens up the possibility that the changes may be partly caused by the observed increases in greenhouse gases.”

Then, in the spring of 1997 until the summer of '98, perhaps the most devastating and prolonged El Niños of all time slammed into Ecuador, in South America. It caused a staggering $2.6 billion in damage to that country's infrastructure, farms, fisheries, homes and businesses.

Events like this have prompted the IPCC itself to observe"Whether global warming is affecting El Niños is now a key question."

l.p.

Biologist Tyrone Hayes Battles One of the Biggest Agribusinesses in the World (Podcast)

CBC Radio - The Current.

Hayes has spent his career studying the effects of one particular herbicide - Atrazine - on frogs. When he presented the maker Syngenta with results that he said showed sexual abnormalities in frogs, Dr. Hayes says the company tried to launch a campaign to discredit his work. Listen here.

Government of Manitoba, Canada to Introduce Legislation That Would Protect Children From Synthetic Chemical Lawn Pesticides

Gov't of Manitoba
First-of-its-kind Legislation in Canada would offer Synthetic Chemical Pesticide-free Zones 
On School, Daycare, Hospital Grounds:  Minister Mackintosh

To mark Earth Day, Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh outlined proposals today that would protect children and reduce their exposure to potentially harmful synthetic chemical pesticides.

Earth Week: Bark Beetles Change Rocky Mountain Stream Flows, Affect Water Quality

ScienceDaily

If you guessed that trees are all that's being affected by the recent infestation of the pine bark beetle, guess again. Full story here.

Researchers Rethink 'Natural' Habitat for Wildlife

ScienceDaily

Bull moose with budding antlers. PLT photo.

Protecting wildlife while feeding a world population predicted to reach nine billion by 2050 will require a holistic approach to conservation that considers human-altered landscapes such as farmland, according to researchers. A new study finds that a long-accepted theory used to estimate extinction rates, predict ecological risk and make conservation policy recommendations is overly pessimistic. The researchers point to an alternative framework that promises a more effective way of accounting for human-altered landscapes and assessing ecological risks. Full story here.