El Niño and Climate Change—Contributing Factors in the Dispersal of Zika Virus in the Americas?

THE LANCET

In their letter, Isaac I Bogoch and colleagues (Jan 23, p 335)1 anticipated the international spread of Zika virus from Brazil through air traffic. Story here.

Government of Canada Invests $1 Million in Canola Research

Agro Pages

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced that the Government of Canada is investing over $980,000 in research to help drive innovation and profitability in the canola industry. Story here.

RELATED: Field of Nightmares: Ottawa promotes the use of Roundup by Canadian Farmers, Letting Corporate Seduction Trump Scientific Evidence.

Fiji: UNICEF On Stand-By With Supplies and Personnel In Wake of Cyclone Winston

UN News Service

In the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston that struck the island nation of Fiji Saturday night, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it is on stand-by to provide emergency supplies and additional personnel to support the Government as it works to determine critical needs. Story here.

Nestlé To Be Sued For Californian Drought Crimes!

Earth. We Are One.

The Story of Stuff Project, a campaign group, has just announced the pursuit of legal action towards Nestlé.  The lawsuit is over the extraction of groundwater in California as Nestlé has been doing, illegally, for its arrowhead brand.  This is considered to be a key contributor to the drought crisis within the state. More here.

Landmark Survey Shows For-Profit Water is a Risky Rip-Off

CommmonDreams

'Without shareholders expecting profits, public systems are less likely to cut corners on service,' says Food & Water Watch. Details here.

Do Canada's Gigantic Problems Need More Revolutionary Solutions? Does We Need to "Think Bigger?"

by Larry Powell

As governments everywhere, including Canada's, sleep walk through the gathering storm - another epic tropical typhoon (hurricane) is poised to slam into Fiji. Those we depend upon as "dot-connectors," who should be viewing everything through the prism of our climate crisis, continue to act like negligent criminals, believing that our survival depends, not on whether we steer our economy away from one that's addicted to fossil fuels, but how big the deficit should be, whether we should bomb a distant enemy overseas in yet another useless war, or bail out some deadbeat corporation which may or may not need it. 

No deep-thinkers here. 

How about this? 

Manitoba Pork Sector Builds on Hope

Manitoba Co-Operator

Four new barns will be built in 2016. Story here.

This is how many factory barns there were in southeastern Manitoba in 2007. That's when the Clean Environment Commission warned that more industry growth would lead to "a significant increase" in the production of nitrogen and phosphorous, nutrients which contribute to the pollution of waterways. So....just how many are too many?

Lessons From Flint Michigan And The Price of Water Privatization

Common Dreams

U.S. communities are shifting toward keeping their water infrastructure public, and that’s a good thing. But stopping water privatization is only the first step. Details here.

Billions of Bits of Plastic Waste Threaten Humans and Wildlife, Australian Senators Told

theguardian

Studies have estimated there are now five trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans. These include microplastics, which form as larger pieces break down. Story here.

Could a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Plant Wipe Out Salmon in Northern B.C? Russian Researchers Fear So.

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

The pink salmon runs in Aniva Bay, once among the largest largest in the world, collapsed after Shell built its LNG facility on the Russian island of Sakhalin in the late 90s. Story here.

Bombshell Report on Oil Contamination in Quebec Raises Red Flags For Oil Export Plans

Greenpeace Canada

In the days just prior to the Paris climate summit, the Quebec government quietly posted a devastating report on the ongoing ecological impacts from the oil spilt during the Lac Mégantic disaster. Entitled Train tragedy in Lac-Mégantic: Impact on fish communities of residual petroleum contamination of the Chaudière River, it details the ongoing impact of the oil that is still in the river system. Story here.