PLANET IN PERIL

Common Dreams "If we continue with business-as-usual burning of fossil fuels, by mid-century what we think of as extreme summer heat today will become a typical summer day." Story here.

GOV'T. OF MANITOBA Manitoba Sustainable Development advises a voluntary evacuation is underway in some areas of the Whiteshell following heavy rains as resulting high water has caused deteriorating road conditions. A number of roads will wash out leaving cottage owners stranded.  Officials are contacting cottage owners in the following areas and recommending they evacuate: • Block 5, Caddy Lake; • cottage owners east of Block 9 on PR 312; and  • no vehicle access south of the ambulance garage on South Shore Road in Falcon Lake. The road to Florence and Nora Lakes is also washed out, and the Mantario Trail is closed until further notice. Residents and cottage owners only can call 1-204-349-2201 for information between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. today and tomorrow. 

ClimateProgress Less than three weeks after a fiery oil train derailment in Oregon spilled 42,000 gallons of crude into the Columbia River and forced the evacuation of hundreds,  the company behind the derailment  announced that it would resume sending oil trains through the area. Story here.

InsideClimateNews Forty-four of West Virginia’s 55 counties are under a state of emergency as severe weather and devastating floods have killed at least 14 residents and left hundreds of thousands without power. A spokesperson for West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin told ABC News that the floods, in some areas, had the potential to be “the worst in 100 years.” Story here.

NATIONAL OBSERVER An Atlantic roughie. Photo credit NOAA A leading conservation group, OCEANA, has sounded an alarm over the state of Canada’s fishery in a new report that reveals that less than 25 per cent of the country’s fish stocks are considered healthy and the status of almost half is unknown. Story here.

CBC News First wave of evacuees expected to arrive in Winnipeg tonight. Story here. RELATED:   Climate Change and Life on Earth. When Will the Treadmill Stop?

Below is a letter I just submitted to several newspapers, mostly in Manitoba. Larry ========= Dear Editor, An old man is rescued from epic floodwaters - Calgary, Canada. 2013. Photo credit- RAF-YYC   A lot has happened to Mother Earth since I wrote my last letter about our changing climate.  A state of emergency was declared in Dawson Creek, B.C. last week after heavy rain turned the creek, which runs through the middle of town, into a raging torrent. It cut the community in two. They got as much rain in a day (90mm) as they normally get in a month. People living there say they’ve never seen anything like it. One called it “the worst in living memory.” Homes were flooded, streets and vehicles swept away. Many residents were stranded and had to be rescued. Premier Clark warned Canadians to expect more of the same, as global warming (caused by the burning of fossil fuel) spawns more extreme weather events like this. She pledged millions of dollars to help “flood-proof”

CBC News 'No more fancy talk, no more studies. We just want it cleaned up,' Chief Simon Fobister says. Story here.

CBC News The Pallister government has opened the door a crack for Winnipeg to re-examine upgrades to the North End sewage-treatment plant, the most expensive capital project on the city's books. Story here.

climatescience.com Data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that average Arctic sea ice extent during May 2016 set a new record low for the month of May over the period of satellite observations which goes back to 1979. Story here.

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE The Caribbean has long been hailed as a vacationer’s paradise, with its coral reefs, bioluminescent bays, white sand beaches and rainforests. Yet there’s a problem lurking beneath the sparkling sea—untreated wastewater. Story here.