PLANET IN PERIL

BBC Manitoba honey bees. PLT photo The UK government should suspend the use of a number of pesticides linked to the deaths of bees, a committee of MPs has said. Full story here.

Photo Credit:  Kevin Pluc The federal government recently  pulled out of an important global  treaty: the  UN Convention to  Combat Desertification . It’s aimed  at fighting drought, a problem that  affects almost  30 per cent of Earth’s  land surface and threatens the  well-being of more than a billion  people worldwide, including in our  Prairie provinces.   Every year, the cumulative effects of overgrazing, over-cultivation,  deforestation,  poor irrigation and increasing extreme weather events  – including those that  cause drought – permanently degrade close to  10 million hectares  of land.  This has led to a creeping loss of places  where food can easily be grown.  

INTER PRESS SERVICE Manitoba sunset. PLT photo WASHINGTON (IPS) - A confluence of factors could make 2013 the most fruitful opportunity in years for potentially major action on climate change, according to a leading voice on climate change policy, the British economist Nicholas Stern. Full story here.

United Nations The United Nations says it's 'regrettable' that the Government of Canada is withdrawing from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) , the only legally binding instrument that addresses desertification, land degradation and drought. Details here. Related story:  Desertification Too Important For Canada To Ignore - Suzuki

CBC News Alberta scientist calls for research on fish malformations in Lower Athabasca River. Details here.

CBC News Chat over beer generates lower-cost way to make hydrogen from water. Details here.

CBC Radio A retired federal researcher based in Saskatoon is going public with concerns Ottawa is muzzling scientists like her.  Details here.

Not exactly the harbinger of spring we look forward to most. I spotted this "gopher," actually a Richardson's ground squirrel, in a field near Roblin, (western) Manitoba today. PLT photo.

CBC Radio - As It Happens As we've discussed on the program this week, federal funding for the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario will be cut off at the end of March. And scientists will not be allowed to conduct research at the facility this summer, even those with their own funding. David Schindler is the founding director of the world-renowned freshwater research facility. He is best-known for his research on phosphates, and on the environmental impact of the oilsands. Listen to the interview, here.

Winnipeg Free Press Skeptics wonder about the sincerity of the federal government to get a new operator for ELA. Details here.

New York Times BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A "mysterious" malady that has been killing  honeybees en masse for several years appears to have expanded drastically in the 'States last year, commercial beekeepers say, wiping out 40 percent or even 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. Details here. PLT; I see researchers and the media insist on clinging to  the line that Colony Collapse Disorder is a "mystery." ("Quotation marks"are mine.) This is tragic since a main contributing factor is pesticides. Period. While this is acknowledged in the story, it never seems to occur to the brightest mind to simply ban the fucking ones we already know to be the worst offenders!   Please also read:   " Chemical Giants, Regulators & Politicians Fiddle While Honeybees Die!"   "Honey Bee Losses in Manitoba."