Posts

Flooding in Paris Becomes More Recurrent

Image

NDP urges Trudeau government to avoid ‘embarrassing’ climate research ordeal

 NATIONAL OBSERVER Canada's New Democrats are pressing the Trudeau government to take urgent, "ambitious" action to save a group of environmental research networks that may soon run out of funds. More here.

NAFTA tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction when it made determination on what a Canadian environmental assessment panel can decide, groups say

Image
Ecojustice Environmental groups are in court today to help Canada challenge a landmark arbitral award brought under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 11 provision by American corporation, Bilcon . More here. The quarry in question.   Photo credit:      ISDS                        PLATFORM

Conserving honey bees does not help wildlife

Image
Science Media attention focused on saving embattled, tame (managed) honeybees may be misguided. That’s because the tame kind can negatively affect thousands of wild pollinator species. Story here. Bumblebees on a sunflower. PinP photo. RELATED:  Pesticide increases probability of bumblebee extinction.

Humans take up too much space -- and it's affecting how mammals move

Image
ScienceDaily Study found that human-modified landscapes shrink mammal movements by up to half. Story here. Moose in Riding Mountain National Park,  Manitoba, Canada. PinP photo.

World's Oceans Last Year Hit Hottest Temperatures Ever Recorded... 'By Far'

Image
COMMON  DREAMS Experts say the data indicates that humans must urgently "reduce the heating of our planet by using energy more wisely and increasing the use of clean and renewable energy." Story here. Coral reefs.  A Wikimedia photo.

Fox Creek quakes linked to volume and location of hydraulic fracturing

folio Study is the first to identify specific factors causing seismic activity in Alberta’s Duvernay play. Story here.

Unique oil spill in East China Sea frustrates scientists

Nature The lighter petroleum that spilled has never before been released in such massive quantities in the ocean. Story here.

Sparrows in the oilpatch are changing their love songs

Image
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

Image
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.

Image
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