PLANET IN PERIL

World Resources Institute The   Global Carbon Project   and the University of East Anglia brought unwanted news this week: 2017 saw the highest levels of carbon pollution on record.   Story here. The Koch fertilizer plant in Brandon, MB. PinP photo.

CISION In the boreal forest, the environment and the economy are linked: all stakeholders have a part in protecting it. Our government is committed to conserving wildlife habitat and protecting species at risk in this vast swath of Canadian forest. Story here. Photo credit - Jon Nickles  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Could the Manitoba government’s return to a deregulated hog industry actually contribute to a world health crisis? by  Larry Powell   The Pallister government has just passed its  “Red Tape Reduction and Government Efficiency Act.”  The bill makes it easier (and cheaper) for pig producers to build new factory barns, expand existing ones, store and dispose of the waste and to even spend less on fire protection.  According to the industry group, “Manitoba Pork,”  as many as 100 new factory barns  may now be built over the next ten years. A CanStock Photo image. What the Bill  will not do  is stop the dangerous overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Livestock owners around the world (including Manitoba’s hog producers) have long been giving these medicines to their animals, whether to treat the sick, prevent the healthy from  getting  sick, or simply to fatten them up for market. This is all perfectly legal here and in many other countries.

Indigenous Environmental Network Click here to Read and Download Report BONN, Germany – After one week of the climate conference, it is clear that many believe the general climate framework will not resolve chaotic climate conditions. Story here.

CBC news A similar warning was first issued by scientists in 1992. Story here. Aftermath of Hurricane Maria - 2017. Photo by  Filo gèn'

Manitoba Co-operator Anaerobic digesters out, new barns in. Story here. RELATED:   More alarm bells sound over drug usage in the world’s intensive livestock operations.

CBC news Fire commissioner's office investigating the cause of the blaze. Story here.

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment  “The human symptoms of climate change are unequivocal and potentially irreversible – affecting the health of populations around the world, today. Whilst these effects will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in society, every community will be affected.” Details here. Wildfires in Portugal.  Wikimedia Commons.

9 November 2017, Geneva/Rome/Paris - In the lead-up to World Antibiotic Awareness Week (13-19 November 2017), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are together calling for responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world and threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases. Infections affecting people – including pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning and gonorrhoea – and animals alike are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective. Antibiotics are often overprescribed by physicians and veterinarians and overused by the public. Where they can be bought for human or animal use without a prescription, the emergence and spread of resistance is made worse. Examples of misuse incl

EcoWatch PinP photo Last year, scientist Stephen Hawking gave humans a shelf-life of  1,000 more years on Earth .  Apparently, 2017 hasn't been to his liking—as Hawking shaved another 400 years off that prediction. Story here.

CBC news Sea-ice researcher David Barber argues provincial $25-per-tonne tax a good start but not aggressive enough. Story here. The flooded rail line to Churchill.  Photo by Omnitrax.