Posts

The Uninhabitable Earth

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New York Magazine Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think. Story here. PinP photo

Study warns about the impact of the carp in shallow lakes with high ecological value for the preservation of waterbirds

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ScienceDaily The presence of the carp, a freshwater invasive species spread worldwide, is alarmingly reducing the populations of diving ducks and waterbirds, according to a study. Story here. One of the carps' victims, the white-Headed Duck. Photo by Ken Billington.

Manitoba getting a carbon tax, amount uncertain

Manitoba Co-Operator Manitobans will pay a carbon tax, but how much may depend on the courts. Details here.

Global Warming Poses Pros and Cons for the Port of Churchill, Manitoba.

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CBC news Warming climate opens up opportunities for  the port but could pose problems  for the railway.  Details here. One of many washed out sections of the  rail line to Churchill. (Omnitrax)

'Talk Is Cheap': G20 Told to End Public Subsidy of All Dirty Fuels by 2020

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Common Dreams New report reveals that public financing by wealthiest governments belies stated commitments to Paris climate goals. Story here. Canada Geese fly over the Suncor Millennium Mine,  Alberta tar sands. Photo credit - Beautiful Destruction.

Prep school teens were accused of massacring protected birds. Did they get off too easy?

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The Washington Post Albatross. Photo by JJ Harrison KAPA‘A, Hawaii — The first of the bodies was discovered by a hiker who snapped a photo of the suspicious scene with his cellphone. Buried in a nest on the westernmost spit of the Hawaiian island of Oahu was a dead bird the size of a human child. On the ground next to it was a large stick. More Here.

Will New Research From Europe Nudge Canada Toward a "Neonic" Ban?

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by Larry Powell Most Canadian fields  of canola ("oilseed rape"  in  Europe)  grow from seed treated with neonics . PinP photo. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which tests and registers pesticides in this country, says it will take recent European research into account in deciding the future of neonicotinoids. They're the world's most widely used, and controversial family of insecticides.  A major field study, published in the journal Nature last week,  found that  neonics  did not seem to harm  honey bees and two wild bee species scientists studied in Germany.  However, it was a different story in Hungary and the U.K. There, the same species located near oil rapeseed (canola) crops treated with the neonic, clothianidin, produced 24% fewer workers the following spring!  While the European Union clamped a moratorium on neonics in 2013, Canada chose a different path. The PMRA has continued to approve their use, even tho it

If you want to save a whale, first save its food

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|NATIONAL                            |OBSERVER - David Suzuki Orcas breaching - photo credit - Robert Pittman - NOAA Two of British Columbia’s most iconic species, chinook salmon and southern resident killer whales, are in trouble. The whale depends on the salmon for survival. Is it time to manage chinook fisheries with killer whales in mind? Story here.

Stephen Hawking's Message for Donald Trump

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New research warns, the world’s most widely-used family of insecticides, can decimate bee populations.

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 Chemical companies, who helped fund the study, believe it provides a loophole they can use to support their case for their continued use. by Larry Powell Bumblebees forage on chives in a Canadian garden.  A PinP  photo. It was the first, large-scale field trial of its kind in Europe. It looked at ways that two kinds of “neonics," (clothianidin and thiamethoxam) may affect tame honeybees and two wild bee species in the UK, Hungary and Germany.   Its findings were published yesterday in the journal, Science. In the UK and Hungary, honeybee colonies located near crops of “oilseed rape” (also called “Canola”) treated with clothianidin and planted the previous year, had almost one quarter (24%) fewer workers in the spring. ( Thiamethoxam didn’t hurt them.) As Richard Pywell, an ecologist at the UK-based Centre for Ecology & Hydrology,  puts it, “We’re showing significant negative effects at critical life-cycle stages, which is a cause for concern

Planet in Peril. Famine in Africa. Sea-Level Rise in Atlantic Canada. (Video)

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