PLANET IN PERIL

Phys Org It's feared that a changing climate may be providing improved conditions for the mosquito which spreads the zika virus, sometimes responsible for severe brain conditions in infants like this. Climate change will damage the health of an entire generation unless there are immediate cuts to fossil fuel emissions, from a rise in deadly infectious diseases to surging malnutrition, experts warned Thursday. Story here.

World Health Organization A community sanitation worker adds water purifying tablets to the  jerry cans of water just filled by the children at the Pagak Reception Centre.  UNICEF/Ethiopia/2014/Thompson Millions of sanitation workers in the developing world are forced to work in conditions that endanger their health and lives, and violate their dignity and human rights, according to a report released today.

EurekAlert Pacific oysters, farmed in the U.S. Photo by NOAA. Tiny threads of plastics are showing up in Pacific oysters and razor clams along the Oregon coast -- and the yoga pants, fleece jackets, and sweat-wicking clothing that Pacific Northwesterners love to wear are a source of that pollution, according to a new Portland State University study. Story here. RELATED: More bad news for the world’s oceans - out of Canada!

CBC News Superbugs are likely to kill nearly 400,000 Canadians and cost the economy about $400 billion in gross domestic product over the next 30 years, warns a landmark report.    Story here. A Canstock photo image. PinP: As is too often the case, a big piece of the information puzzle is left out of stories such as this. Antibiotics have been overused almost everywhere in the world for a long time, often to raise animals for food. Among other things, it makes them grow faster and fattens them up to fetch a better price at market time. Yet governments forge ahead, like Manitoba's is doing, to expand the very style of livestock production that spawns such problems.  Please read: "In Hogs We Trust." Part 1 . Could the Manitoba government’s return to a deregulated hog industry actually contribute to a world health crisIs?

Phys Org --> A new study at the University of Copenhagen shows that hurricanes have become more destructive since 1900, and the worst of them are more than three times as frequent now than 100 years ago. A new way of calculating the destruction, compensating for the societal change in wealth, unequivocally shows a climatic increase in the frequency of the most destructive hurricanes that routinely raise havoc on the North American southern and east coasts.  Story here. After its ravages through the Bahamas, Dorian proceeded along the coasts of the  Southeastern United States  and  Atlantic Canada ,  (above) leaving behind considerable damage and economic losses in those regions.   Photo by  Coastal Elite Halifax, Canada

BirdLife INTERNATIONAL Surrounded by a sea of cattle ranches and sugarcane plantations, a few ‘islands’ of Atlantic Forest remain. By establishing a private reserve and working with local people to connect forest fragments, SAVE Brasil is showing that it is possible to turn the tide on extinction. Story here.