PLANET IN PERIL

Common Dreams Four other states also fighting massive blazes, including drought-stricken California. Story here. RELATED: "The Great Wildfire Debate Lights Up Editorial Pages in Manitoba."

NRDC The Gold King mine accident (the one that turned this Colorado river orange) is on you, too. Story here.

Manitoba Co-Operator PinP photo. CNS Canada – – Statistics Canada will release its first survey-based Canadian crop production estimates for 2015-16 on Friday, and figures for most major crops are expected to be down compared to last year. Story here.

Photo credit - APTN. (A version of this letter was published yesterday in the Neepawa Press.) Dear Editor,  I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. My recent letter in the Neepawa Press, "It's time to wake up and smell the smoke,"  has brought quite a negative response from friends and others. The misunderstanding is over the "link" that I drew between wildfires and manmade climate change. My critics apparently think such a link was my own creation!  Nothing could be further from the truth!  I was merely the messenger!

Common Dreams PinP photo. 'Neonics' have been linked to decline in bee populations. Story here. RELATED:  New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture’s toxic hold on nature becoming a death grip? Bees on sunflower.  PinP photo.

Manitoba Co-Operator Reuters — U.S. regulators have relied on flawed and outdated research to allow expanded use of an herbicide linked to cancer, according to a column published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. Story here.

USA TODAY While most attention has focused on the lingering drought in California, a "flash" drought has spun up in the past few weeks across much of the South, from Texas to the Carolinas. STORY HERE.

Common Dreams Millions of people and billions of dollars depend on healthy oceans, but human actions create complex interactions that endanger oceans. Story here.

bilaterals.org Canadian investors have exploited a controversial mechanism in international investment treaties to challenge public interest regulations in 24 different countries, according to a  study released today  by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).  Story here. RELATED: "Free Trade: Path to Prosperity or Back Road to Corporatism?"

Los Angeles Times It started in October 1997 in Mexico, when a hurricane fueled by El Niño slammed into Acapulco, causing massive flooding and hundreds of deaths.  Details here.

Common Dreams A new reality is setting in in the region – a reality of a changing climate, and the scramble of Big Oil to move in where sea ice is disappearing. Story here. RELATED: Sum    Of + Us This is Shell's dream. The Canadian government just gave it permission to drill for oil off Nova Scotia's cost — and the company doesn't need to cap an oil blowout for 21 days. Please sign!!!