PLANET IN PERIL

Government of Manitoba Low-Risk Alternatives for Lawn Care to be Focus of Legislation:  Mackintosh. Manitoba is proposing to join most of Canada in reducing children's and pets' exposure to synthetic chemical lawn pesticides with legislation to be introduced in the next session that would replace the sale and use of those products with the rapidly growing array of federally approved, effective, low-risk bio-pesticides, Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today.

Huffington Post WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama declared the debate over climate change and its causes obsolete Tuesday as he announced a wide-ranging plan to tackle pollution and prepare communities for global warming. Full story here.

By Andrew Nikiforuk. TheTyee.ca -  Opinion I only hope my city's nightmare is the climate change wake-up Alberta, and Canada, needs. Full story here.

UN News A United Nations senior official today   stressed that this year will be a “turning point” in how governments view and respond to extreme weather events, and floods in particular. Such events are currently affecting several countries across the world. Details here. Calgary flooding: Photo credit:  ca.news.yahoo.com  

Science News As temperatures go up, bison get smaller.  Details here. Manitoba bison. PLT photo

delaware online The ranks of those who believe they are the latter, are growing.  Full story here. A field of wheat, blowing in the breeze. A PLT video.

Inside Climate News The city's climate adaptation projects should be devised to handle conditions far worse than even the most severe sea level rise estimates, scientists say. Details here.

An Editorial - by Larry Powell I call them Manitoba's "climate chickens." Premier Selinger and Finance Minister Struthers had a golden opportunity to tackle this province's climate change woes bravely and effectively. And, they blew it.   Backyard chickens       Climate chickens During the last election campaign, they (and the other major parties) seemed to conspire to keep climate change off the table, altogether. Their lips were sealed, even tho the evidence was staring them in their faces. Now, apparently, they've been dragged kicking and screaming to the next level - recognizing that it is happening , after all.  At long last,  In his budget speech, for example, Struthers concedes,  "Our climate is changing, bringing an increased frequency of major flooding." ( Apparently, flood-fighting costs in this province have jumped, four-fold over the past 15 years compared to the previous 15.)  And so, they claim, they need more money to pay

PLT: The CBC Radio program, "The Current," interviewed a UN climate expert on the flooding in Alberta this morning. (Ironically, he is from Canmore, one of the hardest-hit communities in the province, himself.) He laid out the climate change connection to the disaster in no uncertain terms. But, like so many others, he did not mention humanity's role in the very creation of this horrible "new normal." Below is a copy of an email I subsequently sent to "The Current" after hearing the interview. Dear Erika, I listened with interest to your excellent interview this morning with the UN scientist, Bob Sanford, commenting on the serious flooding in Alberta. His assessment that climate change was behind the profound changes we are seeing    in hydrologic cycles , worldwide was, I thought, "bang-on." At least as far as it went. He emphasized the need to "adapt" to "the new normal" by building better infrastructure,

CBC News Canada's birds in better shape than most, study says, but situation still dire.  Details here. Birds like these rose-breasted grosbeak have declined by 10%  since1970 in part due to the loss of mature forests through logging & invasive species like the pine beetle.  (Source: Birdlife International) Barn swallows nest under a  bridge in Manitoba. PLT photos. Related:  Changing climate poses severe risks to birds, Utah waterfowl

Tonu - Tony Mitra Bt. Cotton enters India through the backdoor.  Details here.