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Greenpeace Film (on ocean pollution) to be shown at special Winnipeg Screening

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Larry, Never has our blue planet been more under threat.  And never before have we had a better sense of what's at stake. Come watch the latest film that will captivate and motivate you to join a global movement working to save our oceans. Greenpeace Canada is sponsoring a special Winnipeg screening of BLUE  — the critically-acclaimed and award-winning documentary film which takes you deep into our planet’s threatened oceans and seas.  This one-night-only screening is an on-demand event.  It only takes place if 50 tickets are sold. Reserve your spot now  — and portion of ticket sales will go towards supporting Greenpeace's vital work to protect our oceans and the planet.  WHAT: Special screening of BLUE — an award-winning documentary film WHEN: Monday 25th June, 7pm WHERE: Cineplex Odeon McGillivray Cinemas ( 2190 McGillivray Blvd, Winnipeg, MB, R3Y 1S6 ) HOW: Tickets are $14.50 and you can order yours here

Environmentalists accuse B.C. government of fudging the numbers to log some of the world's biggest trees

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NATIONAL  OBSERVER Environmentalists have accused the B.C. government of lying about the amount of majestic, centuries-old trees left standing in the province. Story here. An 800 year-old Douglas-fir near  Port Alberni,  BC Photo by  Gillian (EverySpoon)

This is Giant Mine

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TheNarwhal  Giant Mine - 2008. Photo by  WinterCity296  WinterforceMedia This gold mine was once so dangerous that it killed a toddler who ate snow two kilometres away. Canada’s second-largest environmental liability is inside Yellowknife city limits — and intrinsically tied to the city’s history and future. The federal government has now inherited the billion-dollar cleanup effort that could span a century. More here.

Climate change is wiping out the baobab, Africa’s ‘tree of life’

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Ameenah Gurib-Fakim  - the Guardian The trees are a scientific wonder, once capable of living for thousands of years, but now becoming endangered species. Story here. Boab trees. photo by ChatDaniels

Three trillion tonnes of ice lost from Antarctica since 1992

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Nature Research Press Antarctic ice. Photo by Greenpeace The Antarctic Ice Sheet lost about 3 trillion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2017. This figure corresponds to a mean sea-level rise of about 8 millimetres. While it could take a thousand years for a total "meltdown," all of Antarctica’s ice sheets, contain enough water to raise global sea level by 58 metres. So they're a key indicator of climate change and driver of sea-level rise. See video, below. RELATED: Antarctic ice melting faster than thought, studies show.

Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future - a new book by Edward Struzik

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The Science Writers and Communicators of Canada is pleased to announce the winners of this year's book awards for books published in 2017.   The winner in the general audience category  is  Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future by Edward Struzik . A summary. For two months in the spring of 2016, the world watched as wildfire ravaged the Canadian town of Fort McMurray. Firefighters named the fire “the Beast.” It acted like a mythical animal, alive with destructive energy, and they hoped never to see anything like it again. Yet it’s not a stretch to imagine we will all soon live in a world in which fires like the Beast are commonplace. A glance at international headlines shows a remarkable increase in higher temperatures, stronger winds, and drier lands– a trifecta for igniting wildfires like we’ve rarely seen before. This change is particularly noticeable in the northern forests of the United States and Canada. These forests require fire to maintain healthy

Opposition Member of Parliament accuses Canada of buying 'lemon' from Kinder Morgan after estimated size of oil spill multiplies by 48 times

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NATIONAL OBSERVER The "Kinder Morgan police" arrest those who protest against the project. Photo by Mark Klotz NDP MP Nathan Cullen is accusing the Trudeau government of buying "the biggest lemon in Canadian history," after a dramatic revision of the estimated size of an oil spill that occurred right before it announced a $4.5 billion deal to buy the pipeline involved in the incident. More here.

Ocean Conservation Is an Untapped Strategy for Fighting Climate Change

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WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE Mangroves in Benin. Such vegetation provides an important  buffer from the ravages of ocean storms and currents. Photo credit - Ji-Elle.  The ocean contributes  $1.5 trillion annually  to the overall economy and assures the livelihood of  10-12 percent of the world’s population. But there’s another reason to protect marine ecosystems—they’re crucial for curbing climate change. More here.

Taxpayers Still Shelling Out Billions Annually in Fossil Fuel Subsidies

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EcoWatch The world's richest countries continue to subsidize at least $100 billion a year in subsidies for the production and use of  coal ,  oil  and  gas , despite repeated pledges to phase out  fossil fuels  by 2025. More here. Alberta's tar sands.  Photo by  Howl Arts Collective

A "Goldilocks World" for Disease? Climate Change Threatens to Make Things "Just Right" for a Dangerous Bug in Even More of Canada!

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by Larry Powell The culprit is the common wood tick (D. variabilis), also known as the American dog tick. Its range already sprawls across central and eastern North American, from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada. It carries diseases that make both people and animals sick. These include the human ailments of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever and a parasitic disease that kills domesticated cats. The common wood tick,  also American dog tick. (Dermacentor variabilis)  Benjamin Smith - USA. But the present range of the ticks may be nothing compared to what the future might hold.   A Canadian research paper just published in  ScienceDirect , predicts climate change could actually shrink the southern reaches of the tick’s range. But overall, the news is not good. The climate could well become “just right” for the bug, in an area of this continent that is, by 2070, larger by half than it is now! This could include a northward expansion in Canada.  The

Oil may be Canada's past, but we cannot let it be our future

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David Suzuki - The Guardian Pipes loaded on a train in Manitoba. A  PinP  photo.  There's a lot of fear around abandoning an industry that has been an economic driver for decades - yet the rest of the world is moving on. More here.