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Sparrows in the oilpatch are changing their love songs

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NATIONAL OBSERVER    PinP photo. Some birds have been forced to change their tune as a result of noise pollution from oil and  gas drilling, new research  from the University of Manitoba has found.  More here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Ghost Cat Gone: Eastern Cougar Officially Declared Extinct

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EcoWatch Say good-bye to the "ghost cat." This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the eastern cougar ( Puma concolor couguar ) to be extinct and removed it from the endangered species list.  Story here. Photo credit - Pexels.

In Hogs We Trust - Part 111.

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by Larry Powell  (Warning, the words and images in this story are graphic.) We all know that farm animals can get sick. But how many of us are aware of just how damaging animal epidemics can be - whether on the other side of the world or on our own doorstep? They can and do cause huge economic losses and harm to the health of animals and humans, alike. And, there’s ample evidence that, for generations, the model we’ve been using to raise animals in confined, crowded conditions, only magnifies the problems. So why is the Manitoba government    prepared to risk even more of the same by massively expanding pork production in a province with an already-large industry? I hope this part of my series will move you, the reader, to ask, “How much worse must things get, before we change course?”   Losses suffered globally due to diseases of livestock, are staggering. As the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) notes, "Some of the most lethal bugs

There's a 'crisis looming' for Canadian climate research, scientists warn

NATIONAL OBSERVER Canada can’t become a world leader in climate change research without putting its cards on the table, say hundreds of scientists in a new open letter. Story here.

Insurers say Canadian weather getting hotter, wetter and weirder

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NATIONAL OBSERVER If it seems as if the weather's getting weirder, you're not wrong. More Here. Quebec, 2017. Wikimedia.

Richest 1% bagged 82% of global wealth created last year, poorest half of humanity got nothing:

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 Oxfam "Alphonse." A dumpster-diver in Vancouver, Canada. A Wikimedia photo. Author unknown. (Ottawa) Eighty two per cent of global wealth generated last year went to the richest one per cent, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity saw no increase, according to a new Oxfam report. Story here.

Human Activity Fouls Continental Waterways - study

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U.S. National Academy Sciences A Wikimedia photo. Across North America, streams and rivers are becoming saltier, and freshwater bodies, more alkaline, all thanks to human activity. According to a new study, salty compounds like road de-icers and fertilizers, which make their way into rivers, are significantly changing the salinity levels of the waters in the United States and southern Canada. Researchers analyzed the data recorded at 232 U.S. Geological Survey monitoring sites across the country over the past 50 years. It's the first study to simultaneously account for multiple salt ions — such as sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium — in freshwater across the United States and southern Canada. The results suggest that salt ions, damaging in their own right, are driving up the pH of freshwater as well, making it more alkaline.

2017 One of Hottest Years on Record, and Without El NiƱo

 inside climate  news Nine of the 10 warmest years on modern record have been since 2005. This was the warmest without El NiƱo's influence, and it was marked by climate-related disasters. Story here.

340 Billion Gallons of Sludge Spur Environmental Fears in Canada

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Bloomberg "Rainbow Lake" - Alberta tar sands. Photo credit - "Beautiful Destruction." Amid the bogs and forests of northern Alberta, in the heart of the Canadian oil patch, lie some of the largest waste dumps of the global energy business. Story here.

To Save Oceans and Planet, Greenpeace Backs Plan to Create Largest Protected Area on Earth

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Common  Dreams Mt. Herschel, Antarctica. Photo by  Andrew Mandemaker. "We are in desperate need for governments to come together and do what is best for these amazing ecosystems." More here.

The Snowy Owl is Placed on the "Vulnerable" List.

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by Larry Powell A "Snowy" swoops down on its prey (probably a lemming). Photo credit - Government of Quebec. The beautiful Snowy Owl, like so many other wild creatures on Earth, faces an uncertain future. The  “Red List,”  a British agency, has just put the graceful, white bird of prey on the “vulnerable” list for the first time. It has drastically downgraded earlier estimates of 200 thousand individuals, worldwide, to as low as 10 thousand.  Snowy Owl numbers have proven hard to judge since they fluctuate so widely, depending on the availability of food. Factors in their decline may include illegal hunting, collisions with vehicles and power lines and climate change, which can affect the availability of prey. So the agency’s prognosis is a somber one.  “This species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.”  Snowy Owls nest in the Arctic, but have a range that spans the northern hemisphere.”  A conservation spe