PLANET IN PERIL

Winnipeg Free Press First, the grain shipments shut down, shuttering the Port of Churchill. Then the blizzards hit, dumping 60 centimetres of snow in just three days last winter and forcing town authorities to call a state of emergency.  Story here.

Winnipeg Free Press The University of Manitoba's multi-year, multi-million dollar climate change study has been put on ice for a year -- because of climate change itself. Details here.

WINNIPEG: HWM, a citizens’ group which monitors the industry in the province, calls the blaze “horrific.” Three thousand, five hundred pigs perished when two barns burned to the ground near New Bothwell last week. It’s just the latest in a series of similar incidents in the province that have left thousands more hogs dead over the past decade. The barns are not equipped with the same fire walls or alarm/sprinkler systems that most other buildings must have. And HWM fears that plans by the Pallister government  to remove what it calls “impractical and costly” fire prevention regulations in barn construction, will only make a bad situation even worse.How can these changes make the situation better?   “Although the thousands of pigs that have died in barn fires are not someone’s pet, they are all sentient beings that have the capacity to suffer fear and pain” says Vicki Burns of HWM. “If there were horrific fires like this in animal shelters like humane societies, the pub

by Larry Powell NEEPAWA, MB:   Even tho I live in a little landlocked town on the Canadian prairies, I’ve long been fascinated with the role our oceans play in the evolution of manmade climate change. And, as a science writer, I also do lots of research, trying to keep on top of the issue.  So, when I learned that  “The Science Media Centre of Canada,”  was sponsoring a “webinar” on climate change and sea level rise, I jumped at the chance to take part. (A webinar is a live, online event, a bit like a modern day teleconference.) So I tuned in and listened eagerly as four leading experts, three Canadians and an American, laid out in ways that were at once matter-of-fact and alarming, how the phenomenon of rising ocean levels is impacting our planet.  Please read on, listen to the podcast below, or both! Predictions surrounding rising sea levels around the world and the threat they pose to millions of coastal dwellers are sounding mo

VANCOUVER SUN The largest, most expensive project in B.C. history continued to degenerate into a political mess Wednesday, after B.C.’s Green party leader crashed a media briefing on the proposed $9-billion Site C dam and publicly rebuked top B.C. Hydro officials for misleading numbers. Story here.

NATIONAL OBSERVER Horizon Project. Alberta tar sands. Photo by "Beautiful Destruction." Two nations. Opposite tactics, opposite results. As the United Kingdom racks up climate wins, Canada might want to be taking notes.  More here.

Universal agreement on need for measures to reverse ocean deterioration. Details here.

NATIONAL OBSERVER Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. Photo by  Tom L-C . The melting of ice in Antarctica due to a warming climate threatens to upend the economic livelihoods of Falkland Islands residents, says its representative to Canada. STORY HERE.

CNW a CISION company Some populations of Lake Sturgeon (above), a large, very long-lived species affected by historical  overfishing, are now on the endangered list (COSEWIC). US Fish & Wildlife photo. Atlantic Walrus and Eastern Migratory Caribou are at risk of extinction. So concluded the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), which met recently in Whitehorse. The number of Canadian northern wildlife species considered to be at risk now stands at 62. Details here.

by Larry Powell An international team of scientists  is calling for more marine reserves  as a way to lessen the impact of manmade climate change.  The researchers believe, even if greenhouse gases are reduced in order to meet targets set out in the Paris Climate Accord, life on Earth will still face “serious stress and damage.” So more still needs to be done.  A blue rockfish in the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.  NOAA Photo Library Marine reserves are areas of ocean where fishing and development are declared illegal.  They’ve been shown to result in greater biodiversity, density, mass and size among fish and other marine life living there.  Yet only a very small percentage of the world’s oceans have been set aside for this purpose. The team suggests, well-managed marine reserves would help people adapt to “five prominent impacts” of climate change. These are; ocean  acidification, sea-level rise, worsening storms, the distribution of marine life and decreas