PLANET IN PERIL

Winnipeg Free Press - Jan 6 '12 A top climate scientists, David Barber of the University of Manitoba warns, if the (warming) trend continues, we may see the increasing pattern of warm days as more curse than blessing. Details here.   The normally tranquil Big Boggy Crk. in western Manitoba,  swollen by the record floodwaters of 2011. PLT photo.

Manitoba Co-Operator - Jan 5'12  A court hearing in New York City at the end of this month will determine if a "pre-emptive" lawsuit by a clutch of U.S. and Canadian organic producers against seed and ag chem firm Monsanto will go ahead. Details here. An organic market in rural Manitoba.  (PLT photo)

CBC Radio is reporting that the northern Manitoba community of Berens River is out of gasoline. The reason?   Melting ice roads aren't new. This CBC photo shows a truck stuck last year. Record warm weather is making it impossible to use the winter road to bring in supplies from the south. Emergency evacuations of people who may need medical help, are apparently being considered.   PLT: This has to be the final irony. Failure of the winter ice roads, an emergency more than likely caused by global warming, in turn caused by the burning of fossil fuels by we humans, is now leaving communities like Berens River without - fossil fuels! And people are supposed to be the smartest species!

Globe & Mail Jan 4-'12 The “miracle fibre” that helped drive Quebec's economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat. Details here. Please also read: "Harper Disgraces Us All Once Again."

GARDINER HARRIS - New York Times - January 4'12 WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators announced on Wednesday that farmers and ranchers must restrict their use of a critical class of antibiotics in cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys because such practices may have contributed to the growing threat in people of bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment. Details here. PLT photo PLT: What about Canada?

By: Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press - 01/4/2012 OTTAWA - The Conservative government is washing its hands of a nasty labour lockout at a locomotive plant in London, Ont., that was once used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a backdrop to tout business tax breaks. Details here.