PLANET IN PERIL

Antlers of the barren ground caribou can be a meter tall.  The majestic animals have traditionally provided food for subsistence hunters .  A Wikimedia Commons photo.   According to the magazine Science, US politicians may be about to put the continent’s biggest and healthiest caribou herd at risk. That’s because a US Senate committee has just voted to allow drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The coastal plain region of the sprawling refuge happens to be the calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo credit -  US Fish & Wildlife Service. Republicans supporting drilling say its footprint will be small. Environmental groups disagree, saying roads and pipelines will dissect the animals' habitat.  A Canadian wildlife ecologist quoted in the story, Chris Johnson of the University of Northern BC (Prince George), says the consensus that industrial activity disturbs the animals is

It’s not looking good for the vaquita.   Photo: C. Faesi / Proyecto Vaquita 1992. The vaquita are porpoises which measure only about 1.5 meters, fully grown. They’re among the smallest of the cetaceans, an order of marine mammals which includes porpoises, dolphins and whales. Their numbers have now dwindled to fewer than 30 in Mexico’s Gulf of California, where they live.   The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports vaquita numbers have declined an astonishing 92% since 1997.  Gill net   fishing is the main culprit. The vaquita have become “collateral damage” as poachers target a fish whose swim bladder fetches $20 thousand dollars per kilogram for use in Chinese medicine. Mexico has imposed a permanent ban on the taking of vaquita. But authorities have been unable to enforce the law sufficiently to make a difference. Now, the magazine, Science is reporting, an eleventh-hour bid by a team of conservationists, to bring them back from the brink,

NATIONAL OBSERVER PinP photo. Nebraska regulators approved passage of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline Monday, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for the controversial $10-billion project but creating a new wrinkle by choosing an alternative route for the pipeline. STORY HERE.

the guardian EU votes to reauthorise the pesticide, ending a bitterly fought battle that saw 1.3 million people sign a petition calling for a ban. STORY HERE. A Wikimedia Commons photo. RELATED:  Field of Nightmares  -  Ottawa continues to embrace the widespread use of Roundup on Canadian farms by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence.

ScienceDaily Shrinking glacier cover could lead to increased volcanic activity in Iceland, warn scientists in a new report. Story here. The Mayon volcano, Philippines.1984. Photo by  C.G. Newhall

Science Daily Due to climate change, more and more methane is bubbling up from lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands throughout the world. The release of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- leads to a further increase in temperature, thus creating a positive feedback loop (also known as a 'vicious circle'). Story here. Methane bubbles from the La Brea Tar Pits - Los Angeles.  Photo credit -  KimonBerlin