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7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution - UN

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World Health Organization In new estimates released today, WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died - one in eight of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk. Reducing air pollution could save millions of lives. Details here. Photo credit - Google Images.

Beekeepers in Ontario, Canada Reject Bee Health Report - Doesn't do Enough to Stem Pesticide Residues

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Canadian Press The Ontario Beekeepers Association says it can't endorse the final report from the Bee Health Working Group. Details here.

2013 - Sixth Warmest Year on Record

Voice of America The World Meteorological Organization reports 2013 was the sixth warmest year on record, confirming the long-term global warming is continuing. In its annual report on the Status of the Climate, WMO describes a pattern of extreme weather events across the planet. Details here. 

Deep Ocean Current May Slow Due to Climate Change

ScicnceDaily Far beneath the surface of the ocean, deep currents act as conveyer belts, channeling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe. A new has found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down one of these conveyer belts, with potentially serious consequences for the future of the planet's climate. Details here.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Urges Water, Energy Security ‘For the Many & Not Just the Few’

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Following is THE Secretary-General's message for World Water Day March 22ND: A Manitoba lake. PLT photo. Water is at the core of sustainable development.  This year’s observance of World Water Day focuses on the links between water and energy.  Both are critical for eradicating poverty.  And they interact with each other in ways that can help — or hinder — our efforts to build stable societies and lives of dignity for all. Climate change driven in great part by the unsustainable use of energy will exacerbate water stress and scarcity in many regions.  Efforts to provide universal access to water and energy will be undermined if the current warming trend continues. The many strong links between water and energy demand coherent, integrated policies and innovative strategies.  Water must be used — and electricity must be generated and distributed — equitably and efficiently, so all users get a fair share. These are the goals of the ongoing work of UN-Water and of the

Crops in Valley of Peace, Belize, Destroyed by Herbicide Sprayed on Them

News5 About a million dollars in vegetables have been destroyed in the Valley of Peace area, Cayo District of Belize (Central America).  The community is the largest provider of vegetables to two districts, but the farmers have lost their crops due to crop-dusting.  Green Tropics, the controversial company which grazed land in the Laboring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary in 2012, is looking like a repeat offender tonight because they are said to be responsible for the herbicide spraying.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Sea Sick: A Thoughtful, Sobering Account of Climate Change and the Ocean, Live on Stage

Globe & Mail There’s a funny anecdote that occurs late into Alanna Mitchell’s Sea Sick , the solo show opening the Theatre Centre’s handsome new Queen West home in Toronto. It finds Mitchell in a submersible 3,000 feet under the sea, crammed into a compartment no wider than a bathtub, and suddenly having a desperate need to pee. Details here.

State Of The Future Report: Humans are Doing OK, But Nature Suffers As a Result – And We’ll Pay For It

The Independent The future's bright – but only if we rise to the challenges which threaten environmental catastrophe, a major new report warns this week. Details here.

Salmon Genetically Modified in Canada May Soon Be In Stores, Thanks To AquaBounty

Huffington Post HALIFAX - A U.S. company hoping to produce genetically modified salmon eggs in Canada has also applied to the federal government to sell its fish for human consumption.  Full story here.

All Give & No Take

Do those negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have any interest in democracy? Here’s a test. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 11th March 2014 Nothing threatens democracy as much as corporate power. Nowhere do corporations operate with greater freedom than between nations, for here there is no competition. With the exception of the European parliament there is no transnational democracy, anywhere. All other supranational bodies – the IMF, the World Bank, the United Nations, trade organisations and the rest – work on the principle of photocopy democracy (presumed consent is transferred, copy by copy, to ever greyer and more remote institutions) or no democracy at all(1).

The Great Divide - Canadian Tar Spreads its Filth Everywhere

OnEarth What is happening along the Rocky Mountain Front is what happens whenever big energy arrives in small places. It offers a devil’s bargain: a choice between the lure of prosperity and the preservation of place. It pits neighbour against neighbour, family against family, and whatever the eventual outcome, a lot of people are probably going to be unhappy. Details here.