Nearly all (North) America's endangered species will struggle to adapt to climate crisis

The Guardian

An emaciated moose in Riding Mtn. National Park, Canada.
A PinP photo.
All but one of 459 species have traits making them vulnerable to rising temperatures, study finds.
Story here.

To quote from the initial study in Nature, Climate Change: 

"Climate change is a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity globally and has emerged as a driver of observed and potential species decline and extinction. Government laws and policies should play a vital role in supporting climate change adaptation for imperilled species, yet imperilled species protections have been critiqued as insufficient in Australia, Canada and Europe." 
PinP

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Australian blazes will ‘reframe our understanding of bushfire’

Science Magazine

Fire on Cape Barren Is. Australia, 2016. Photo by Planet Labs, Inc.

Summary

Australia is on fire like never before—and this year's "bushfire" season, which typically peaks in January or February, has barely begun. Driven in part by a severe drought, fires have burned 1.65 million hectares in the state of New South Wales, more than the state's total in the previous 3 years combined. Six people have died and more than 500 homes have been destroyed. As Science went to press, some 70 uncontrolled fires were burning in adjacent Queensland, and South Australia was bracing for potentially "catastrophic" burns. David Bowman, a fire geographer and director of the Fire Centre Research Hub at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, spoke with Science about the unprecedented crisis. The flames have charred even wet ecosystems once thought safe, he says. And the fires have become "white-hot politically," with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal government drawing criticism for refusing to acknowledge any link to climate change.

End the criminalization of land rights defenders. (Video)

Juul spreads over the world as home market collapses in scandal

BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

E-cigarettes. Photo by Ecig Click

The embattled American vape company Juul is pushing foreign governments to ditch strict e-cigarette regulations as it aggressively expands across the globe in an attempt to offset lost profits in the US. Story here.

Fueling Concerns of Approaching Catastrophic 'Tipping Point,' Deforestation of Brazilian Amazon Hit Highest Level in Decade

Common Dreams

Another denizen of the Amazon.
Photo by Tom MacKenzie - U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service

"These figures confirm what we feared, namely that 2019 has been a dark year for the rainforest in Brazil." 

 Story here.

Study counts 1.8 million pieces of trash at the bottom of Canada's Bay of Fundy

The National Observer

Daniels Flat (Bay of Fundy)

A survey estimates more than 1.8 million pieces of garbage are strewn over the bottom of the Bay of Fundy, prompting concerns about potential harm to marine life. Story here.

It's big. It's risky. It's unacceptable!

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

In the northeast corner of Alberta lies Wood Buffalo National Park. Known for its sheer size and biodiversity, it is Canada’s largest national park and World Heritage Site. Its size and remote location have led many to believe it is untouched by human impacts, but it has sadly been affected by upstream industrial development outside of the Park. It is now additionally threatened by a proposed open-pit oil sands mine just 30-km south of its borders.

If approved, the Teck Frontier oil sands mine would be the largest open-pit mine in North America, with a massive 290 sq-km footprint. This mine would pose serious environmental risks to the approximately 1 million migratory birds that fly over the region, species at risk that depend on the intact boreal habitat, and negatively influence downstream waters on the Athabasca River. 

The federal government has a public comment period open until November 24, 2019 to hear what people think of the proposed environmental assessment conditions that Teck would need to meet.

How strong are these conditions? The proposed mitigation measures do very little to address the startling list of impacts from the mine. It is clear that the conditions are inconsistent with a healthy future for our boreal and the communities that depend on the biodiversity of the region.

Want to speak up but unsure about what you will say? Use our public comment guide as a blueprint to your comment. We provide our key concerns about the mine and the proposed conditions to kickstart your comment. 

Now is our chance to let the federal government know that this project is a serious danger to our boreal forest and poses risks that cannot be ignored. 

Yours in Conservation, 

Gillian Chow-Fraser
Boreal Program Manager
CPAWS Northern Alberta