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Manitoba's Declining Wild Berries and Medicinal Plants Found To Be In Sickly Condition. Farm Chemicals the Main Suspects - First Nations Researchers.

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By Larry Powell A tale that is all too tragic. And familiar  For centuries, the aboriginal people of North America’s great plains have gathered wild berries and plants for food and medicine. Now, members of two First Nations in Central Manitoba have not only observed declines in the abundance of such crops, they have documented unhealthy foliage and severe deformities in many of them. These include chokecherries, raspberries, Indian breadroot, saskatoons, cranberries and hawthorns. Deformed chokecherry in study area. Unhealthy saskatoons. After obtaining federal funding for a detailed study, several band members gathered hundreds of samples in and around Swan Lake, southwest of Portage La Prairie, and Rolling River, southeast of Riding Mountain National Park. The study was done almost three years ago but not made public until now. For years, elders have watched as harvest areas shrink and overall quality declines. Where sage and sweet grass once

Industrial Agriculture: Too Big to Succeed

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IPS An estimated one billion small farmers scratching out a living growing diverse crops and raising animals in developing countries represent the key to maintaining food production in the face of hotter temperatures and drought, especially in the tropical regions, says Sarah Elton, author of the book, “Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet.” Full story here. Backyard chickens on a small,  organic farm in Manitoba. PLT photo.

Fracking's Effect on Water Not Properly Monitored, Canadian Report Finds

CBC News Environment Canada commissioned report by international experts. Details here. Related:  Have Our Servants Become Our Masters? Why Fossil Fuels Are No Longer Our Friends. Don't Believe the Harperites! There are Downsides to Free Trade!

The Downfall of the Plastic Bag: A Global Picture

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Earth Policy Institute Worldwide, a trillion single-use plastic bags are used each year, nearly 2 million each minute. Usage varies widely among countries, from over 400 a year for many East Europeans, to just four a year for people in Denmark and Finland. Plastic bags, made of depletable natural gas or petroleum resources, are often used only for a matter of minutes. Yet they last in the environment for hundreds of years, shredding into ever-smaller pieces but never fully breaking down. Full story here.

Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance 2014

WHO Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Details here.

Climate Change: Don't Wait Until You Can Feel it

ScienceDaily Despite overwhelming scientific evidence for the impending dangers of human-made climate change, policy decisions leading to substantial emissions reduction have been slow. New research shows that even as extreme weather events influence those who experience them to support policy to address climate change, waiting for the majority of people to live through such conditions firsthand could delay meaningful action by decades. Full story here.

Only With Political Will Can we Avoid the Worst of Climate Change

David Suzuki  It's fitting that the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released during Earth Month . Details here.

U.S. Schoolchildren Exposed to Arsenic in Well Water Have Lower IQs

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. In Maine study, rates of contamination exceed WHO and EPA guidelines. Details here. Related: Keep Arsenic Out of the Water in Virden, Manitoba - an Open Letter to the Minister of Environment.

Does El NiƱo Plus Global Warming Equal Global Temperature Records This Year and Next?

Climate Progress An El NiƱo appears increasingly likely this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If it starts relatively quickly, then 2014 could well be the hottest year on record. But if it is a strong El NiƱo, then 2015 would likely break all previous global records. Details here. ========= In January of 2011, I wrote the following here on PLT in a post I entitled: Is Canada's Flagship TV Newscast Telling the Whole Story of Climate Change? Both La NiƱas (cooling trends) and El NiƱos (warming ones), have been scientifically shown to be behaving strangely in recent years, with the onset of global warming. In the early ‘90s, several El NiƱos were recorded, but with no  La NiƱas in between! The IPCC describes this occurrence as "highly unusual and very unlikely to be accounted for solely by natural variability.” In a research paper in 1996, Dr. Trenberth noted this same event was “ the longest on record…and

Biologist Tyrone Hayes Battles One of the Biggest Agribusinesses in the World (Podcast)

CBC Radio - The Current. Hayes has spent his career studying the effects of one particular herbicide - Atrazine - on frogs. When he presented the maker Syngenta with results that he said showed sexual abnormalities in frogs, Dr. Hayes says the company tried to launch a campaign to discredit his work. Listen here.

Government of Manitoba, Canada to Introduce Legislation That Would Protect Children From Synthetic Chemical Lawn Pesticides

Gov't of Manitoba First-of-its-kind Legislation in Canada would offer Synthetic Chemical Pesticide-free Zones  On School, Daycare, Hospital Grounds:  Minister Mackintosh To mark Earth Day, Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh outlined proposals today that would protect children and reduce their exposure to potentially harmful synthetic chemical pesticides.