Pesticide exposure causes bumblebee flight to fall short

PHYS ORG

Bumblebees forage on chives.
A PinP photo.

Flight behaviour is crucial for determining how bees forage, so reduced flight performance from pesticide exposure could lead to colonies going hungry and pollination services being impacted. More here.

RELATED:

Scientists cast doubt on claims by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest pesticide is safe for bees. By Larry Powell.

The World Lost an Area of Primary Rainforest Last Year, the Size of Ten Riding Mountain National Parks in Manitoba!

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Manitoba's Riding Mtn. Park.

The tropics lost 12 million hectares of tree cover in 2018, the fourth-highest annual loss since record-keeping began in 2001. Of greatest concern is the disappearance of 3.6 million hectares of primary rainforest, an area the size of Belgium (ten Riding Mountain Parks). The figures come from updated data from the University of Maryland, released today on Global Forest Watch. More here.

Fungicides move into the headlines. And not in a good way. Letter.

Dear Editor,

A chlorothalonil molecule.
Image by Jynto.

A month ago, the European Union announced it would ban the widely-used fungicide, chlorothalonil.  

Why? 

Because experts in its own Food Safety Agency suspected it was carcinogenic - or cancer-causing. 

It just so happens, that very same product is also used right here in Canada, and apparently in no small amounts, either! Yet our own Canadian "regulator," the PMRA, re-assessed the chemical less than a year ago.  While it imposed some restrictions, it will still allow its main use as a treatment for mold, mildew and blight in food crops, to continue.

Fast forward to today. The New York Times is now reporting that a new and deadly fungal infection, Candida aurus, is moving across the globe, with "numerous cases" reported in many countries, including Canada. The fungus is claiming many lives and proving to be well-nigh indestructible. 

Why? 

According to experts in the field of antimicrobial resistance, it is probably building defences against medical treatments because we are applying too many agricultural fungicides to our crops! 

(According to Stats Can, while it does not identify the specific kind, farmers here in my home province of Manitoba use fungicides more frequently than their counterparts in any other province!) 

So, could it be, in addition to the likelihood that the herbicide, Roundup causes cancer, we need to worry about fungal infections becoming resistant to available treatments, too?  

I have no idea. 

But I would think my own government might! Yet, even though I've tried for a month now to find out how the EU and Canada could come up with such starkly different findings (regarding carcinogenicity), I've heard nothing back at all. And I  have no reason to expect there'll be any response this time, either.

This is disturbingly similar to the growing medical crisis surrounding the overuse of antibiotics in the world's intensive livestock industry. (Both the government of Manitoba and the hog industry's lobby group remained similarly silent when I asked them for information for a series I was writing on the government's fateful decision to de-regulate this already large industry, to allow it to expand.) 

I call it government by neglect. Arrogant neglect.

As one world expert on antibiotic resistance, Ellen Silbergeld, states, "Why on earth did somebody think that putting antibiotics in agriculture was a good idea?" 

Silbergeld is a scientist. And, in a "post-truth" world, sadly, science must take a back seat to profit and politics.

Meanwhile, the frenzied growth of this runaway industry - from Malaysia to Manitoba - continues apace.

Larry Powell

Shoal Lake, Manitoba.

A Mysterious Fungal Infection, Spans the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy

The New York Times

The Candidida aurus fungus. A CDC image.

The rise of Candida auris embodies a serious and growing public health threat: drug-resistant germs. More here.

RELATED?

The European Union will soon ban a 

fungicide - suspected of being carcinogenic - one which remains in apparently widespread use in Canada today. Ottawa remains silent -  by Larry Powell

Dark days for science. My latest letter.

Dear Editor,

These are dark days for science.

A Gov't. of New Brunswick photo. 2019.

Even as violent weather continues to lap at our doorstep, the good people of Alberta have elected yet another climate-denier as their Premier. Soon, Jason Kenney, too will join that merry band of Tory luminaries already conducting a crusade to cripple the most effective way of countering our climate crisis. Knowing that the science is now too compelling to deny it outright, these rebels-without-a-clue, are trying a different tack. They’re taking Ottawa to court, challenging its right to impose a carbon tax. Despite the federal provision for rebates, they seem to think, by dint of saying it often enough, they can reduce this sensible attempt to save our planet, down to some kind of tawdry “tax grab.”

A massive die-off of fish in Shoal Lake, in western Manitoba, has raised the spectre of a huge cleanup ahead.

by Larry Powell

Countless dead fish litter the shores. 

The magnitude of the die-off has emerged over the past few days, with spring breakup in full swing. The receding ice is revealing a shocking scene - thousands of fish carcasses piled up along the shorelines. Many more can be seen beneath the ice that hasn't melted yet. 

Gulls feast on the remains. (Eagles have also been seen doing the same.)

The Mayor of the local government involved - Mervin Starzyk of the RM of Yellowhead  - tells PinP, he's waiting for more information from the province on what has happened. He says the Manitoba department of Sustainable Development (SD) has told him it may have been "winter kill." (That's usually a process involving a serious depletion of oxygen in the water.) 

The lake shares its name with a town
of some 700 people at its north end.
(Google map.)

Starzyk says any attempt to clean up will be both expensive and - without outside help - beyond the ability of the RM to carry out. 

Besides, he says, it's not really a local government responsibility anyway, since it's the province that's in charge of water resources. 

He says sewage from the Town of Shoal Lake's treatment plant drains into the lake. So phosphorous levels there are high and so is plant growth. These conditions can contribute to a process known as eutrophication, depleting oxygen and suffocating aquatic life. 

The Mayor says - if lack of oxygen is the problem - raising the lake level might help. But that would not be easy, since Oak River, which runs into the lake from the north, sometimes dries up.  Besides, controlling water levels is also the province's responsibility and not within his local government's jurisdiction. 

The Mayor adds, the RM is looking to purchase some marshland property east of town with lots of cattails, plants that are efficient at further cleansing treated sewage. If the deal can be completed, the town's sewage, rather than flowing into the lake, would be piped there, instead. But that plan, he notes, could prove expensive, as well - perhaps a million dollars. 

Starzyk says its depressing this has happened since many of the fish are scattered along the shore, right next to the golf course and clubhouse. It's a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, for both golfing and dining. It's feared the decomposing fish are almost certain to create an odour problem as the weather warms up. 

Some 2 years ago, hundreds of fish shown here,
struggle to get over a dam to spawn, just upstream
from Shoal lake on the Oak River. All photos by PinP.

The lake is home to walleye, northern pike and perch. Another species, considered less desirable to anglers - the sucker - has also been abundant in the waterway for some time. 

A Federal Judge Just Nixed Trump’s Attempt to Drill the Arctic and Atlantic

EARTHJUSTICE

The Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Photo by Diego Delso.

In a ruling issued from Alaska, a U.S. District Court has determined that President Trump overstepped his constitutional authority and violated federal law. More here.