PLANET IN PERIL

13 May 2011 – UN News Centre Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need for fundamental changes in humanity’s resource consumption patterns and values. Details here.

guardian.co.uk 9 May 2011 UN's climate change science body says renewables supply, particularly solar power, can meet global demand. Details here.

By Bruce Robinson Daily Camera - 05/08/2011 The biotech industry, led by Monsanto, promotes the idea that the arguments about genetically modified crops should focus on the science and the economics as Monsanto sees them. Read more:

This is the CBC (aerial) video of the dike being deliberately breached at the Hoop & Holler Bend in the Assiniboine River, near Portage La Prairie.

David Suzuki - Science Matters - May 13'11 We shouldn't expect the kids to clean up our mess.

NOTE; My letter below, now appears in the Winnipeg Free Press online at: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/121825344.html as "Ditches not enough." ======= Dear Editor, It was quite a spectacle. There was Prime Minister Harper, who once called climate change "a Communist plot," blissfully inspecting the devastation it has created in Manitoba before his very eyes. But rather than launching a frontal attack on its root causes, he predictably promised to help Manitoba dig deeper ditches and build higher dikes.   Scientists who know the most about the topic have warned for years that climate change is playing a role in the terrible storms around the world which are getting worse and more frequent. And that, in all likelihood, includes the worst flooding this province has seen in centuries. So, if we hope to protect our earthly home in more meaningful, lasting ways, we need to cut back on the fossil fuels we burn in

By: Laura Rance - Wpg. Free Press - Posted: 05/7/2011  Monopoly did much more for farmers than just sell their grain for them. Details here.

May 10-'11 Food & Agriculture Organization scrape TV  FAO calls for wildfire emissions monitoring and comprehensive fire management strategies.  Details here.

International Rivers - 9/5/11 Coyhaique, Chile - A five-dam hydroelectric scheme that locals fear will destroy the character of one of Chile's most important wild regions was approved today.  Details here.

Manitoba News Release - May 8, 2011 - FLOOD BULLETIN #38 - Manitoba Water Stewardship reports: *    A three-day unstable weather system is expected to bring widespread rain ranging from 20 to 50 millimetres across the entire southern Manitoba watershed.  The Assiniboine River, just below the Shellmouth Dam. Due to recent rain, soils have a reduced capacity to retain water and any further rain will likely run off into streams and rivers.  *Communities along the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Headingley are advised that water levels along the river will be increasing in approximately two to four days.  The unprecedented flows are a result of last week's weekend storm, the timing of the melt from the storm and additional rainfall forecast for this week.   *Water levels on the Assiniboine River at the First Street Bridge in Brandon are 1,182.17 ft., an increase of 0.87 ft. since yesterday.  *    Protective dikes in Brandon are being raised another t