PLANET IN PERIL

Sum of +  Us Larry, Wow.  Bayer has just sued the European Commission to overturn a ban on the pesticides that are killing millions of bees  around the world. A huge public push won this landmark ban only months ago -- and we can't sit back and let Big Pesticide overturn it while the bees vanish. Bayer and Syngenta, two of the world's largest chemical corporations, claim that the ban is "unjustified" and "disproportionate." But clear scientific evidence shows  their products are behind the massive bee die-off that puts our entire food chain in peril.  Just last month, 37 million bees were discovered dead on a single Canadian farm. And unless we act now, the bees will keep dying.  We have to show Bayer now that we won't tolerate it putting its profits ahead of our planet's health.  If this giant corporation manages to bully Europe into submission, it would spell disaster for the bees. Sign the petition to tell Bayer and Syngenta to drop the

Washington Post The results, published this week in Nature Climate Change , aren’t exactly encouraging: “Our analysis demonstrates that the groups studied -  corals, molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans and fishes   - are all impacted negatively, albeit differently, even by moderate acidification.” Details here.

Bloomberg News - U.S. rail-safety regulators began a “Bakken blitz” of inspections of crude oil tank cars this week as they seek to prevent a railroad disaster in the U.S. similar to July’s fatal inferno in Quebec. Full story here.

Winnipeg Free Press - by Gwynne Dyer In 2007, oil drillers found a reservoir of an estimated 846 million barrels of heavy crude in Yasuni National Park, in Ecuador's part of the Amazon. But the park is home to two indigenous tribes that have so far succeeded in living in voluntary isolation -- and it is listed by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve. A single hectare of Yasuni contains more species of trees than all of North America. Details here.

Nature News The slow and inexorable increase in the oceans’ acidity as they soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could itself have an effect on climate and amplify global warming, according to a new study. Details here. A Mexican beach. PLT photo.

the HillTimes There’s less reliable information for small towns, rural Canada. Details here.

Canadian Press Officials in British Columbia have privately warned that the province lacks the ability to manage oil spills from existing and future oil traffic, and even a moderate spill would overwhelm their ability to respond, documents show. Full story here.

Vancouver Sun Chiefs want compensation for removal of water from their traditional territories. Details here.

by Lester Brown A wheatfield in Manitoba, Canada. PLT photo Agriculture as it exists today developed over 11,000 years of rather remarkable climate  stability.  It has evolved to maximize production within that climate system. Now,  suddenly, the climate  is changing.  Details here.