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The more we carve up natural landscapes with roads and fields, the closer we’re pushing large predators like lions and wolves, toward extinction.

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by Larry Powell While the consequences of habitat loss have been known for some time, new research just published, underlines just how grave the situation has become.  While this latest research is German, animals like the grey wolf face similar disruption in North America.  It’s called “habitat fragmentation.” And, it’s been happening on such a large scale, it’s been hard to tell what aspects are the most destructive. That's because ecologists - at least 'til now - ha ven't been able to properly keep track of all wildlife within an entire eco-system when human developments confine them to smaller and more isolated patches of livable space.  -30-

Recent research contradicts a claim by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest bug-killer is safe for bees.

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by Larry Powell A honeybee colony in Manitoba. A PinP photo. It's brand name is "Sivanto," (generic name -  flupyradifurone ). It's an insecticide designed to kill a wide range of bugs which eat food crops such as soybeans. Bayer is registering it in many jurisdictions around the world.  After conducting various field studies,  Bayer  concludes , "Sivanto displayed a very promising safety profile." The company concedes, it works in ways similar to the  neonicotinoids  (a group of insecticides which has become notorious for its likely role in pollinator decline). Still, it finds, the product "can be considered safe to most beneficial insects, specifically pollinators."  Image by Brian Robert Marshall. But a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego, reaches a different conclusion.   In findings published earlier this year, the team gave a range of Sivanto doses to the bees, including ones

Amazon deforestation accelerating towards unrecoverable 'tipping point'

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The Guardian Data confirms fears that Jair Bolsonaro’s policy encourages illegal logging in Brazil.  Story here. The Amazon rainforest near Manaus, capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas (largely untouched by human hands, so far).Photo by Neil Palmer/ CIAT.

‘You can’t drink money’: Kootenay communities fight logging to protect their drinking water

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The Narwhal In Glade, BC, where clear-cutting could begin any day, determined residents are pulling out all the stops in an effort to protect their local creek — even though a judge ruled they have no right to clean water. Story here. The south end of Kootenay Lk. Photo by Shawn from Airdrie, Canada.

Modern Climate Change Is the Only Worldwide Warming Event of the Past 2,000 Years

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Smithsonian.com New research finds that previous periods of warming and cooling driven by natural causes were regional shifts in temperature rather than global events. Story here. A grey heron suffers during a heatwave - 2013. Photo by Gail Hampshire   from Cradley, Malvern, U.K

The smell, the noise, the dust: my neighbour, the factory farm

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The Guardian Industrial farms are spreading across Europe. Greenpeace campaigners went to talk to the people who live close by.Warning: readers may find some of the images upsetting. Story here. Dead hogs in a dumpster at a Manitoba factory barn, awaiting removal to an unknown location. A PinP photo. Please also read - "In Hogs We Trust."   A critique of Manitoba’s runaway hog industry. Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse. Part 11 - The price we pay for corporate pig$. Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the global magnitude of livestock diseases. Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry. Part V - What’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand?