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Canadian Climate Skeptic in the News Again.

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A well-known Canadian climate-denialist, Tim Ball (above), appears on a list of about 24 people asked to block the release of a new documentary film. The award-winning website, Inside Climate News, has exposed secret e-mails from another denialist, Fred Singer, an American. In them, Singer seeks advice from a group of pundits and scientists, including Ball, on how to keep the film “Merchants of Doubt,” from being shown to the public. The film shows how these individuals go about trying to convince government and the public that climate science is not real and that human activity is not the driving force behind climate change. Ball argues on his blog, for example, that water vapour, not carbon dioxide, is the most important greenhouse gas. It is not known whether Ball supplied the kind of advice to Singer that he asked for.  Singer has ties to both the fossil fuel and tobacco industries. 

United Nations Responding to ‘Devastating' Impact of Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, Pacific Region

UN News Centre The United Nations announced today that it is taking all necessary steps to respond to the catastrophic impacts of a devastating tropical cyclone that affected most of Vanuatu over the past two days. Story here.

'Merchants of Doubt' Author on the Origins & Persistence of Climate Denialism

Inside  climate  news Naomi Oreskes discusses the network of pundits and scientists who have delayed action on climate change, and how they did it. Story here.

Some Facts About Alberta's Tar Sands Tailings Ponds

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The Canadian Press Alberta tar sands. Photo credit - Beautiful Destruction. EDMONTON - Here a few facts about Alberta's oilsands tailings ponds: Story here.

Dozens Feared Dead After Cyclone Pam Hits Vanuatu

BBC The death toll from a category five tropical storm that has hit islands in the South Pacific could run into the dozens, the UN's relief agency says. Story here.

Only “Heroic Efforts” Will Spare Earth’s Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change - Experts.

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by Larry Powell   Like a giant green scarf,  the boreal forest  embraces the globe. It's home to a cold but living, breathing community of plants, animals and humans. Marked by mountains, over a million lakes and other waterways, muskeg and human settlements, it sprawls over the vast expanse of the northern hemisphere. Every third tree on the planet (mostly evergreen) is found there, making it one of Earth's largest remaining ecosystems. One-half of this immense, wooded habitat is found in Russia. One third of it is here in Canada, where it occupies more than half of our entire land mass. The rest is shared by Alaska and Scandinavia. Part of the "boreal plains" of western Canada. A PinP photo.                              An Important Gathering - an Ominous Conclusion Every two or three years, the International Boreal Forestry Research Association (IBFRA) meets to assess the overall health of the region.  Delegates include government and univer

Be Afraid (Video)

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Demolition of Mount Agassiz Underway

Manitoba Co-Operator Parks Canada is seeking public feedback in efforts to determine the future of the former Riding Mountain ski hill in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba.   Story here.

Ag Canada Developing Plan for "Judicious Use" of "Neonics," a Bee-Killing Pesticide

Western Producer Agriculture Canada and the crop protection industry are developing a plan to wean canola growers off neonicotinoid seed treatments. Story here.

A Bucket of Whitewash for Amanda Lang

iPOLITICS Let’s recap. Amanda Lang gets paid a bushel of money to talk at events sponsored in part by a big bank — the one her boyfriend works for. She then invites the bank’s president on her TV show to crap on a story broken by her CBC colleagues about that bank and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program while, at roughly the same time, she goes AWOL and disses the story herself in The Globe and Mail without warning her bosses. And it was no big deal. Not, apparently, according to the CBC’s in-house ‘review’ of events. Story here.

Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground to Stop Climate Change

George Monbiot - The Guardian. In the fourth piece in the Guardian’s major series on climate change , George Monbiot argues that once coal, oil and gas are produced, they will be used. And yet, after 23 years of UN negotiations there have been almost no steps taken to stop the production – rather than the use of – fossil fuels. Story here.