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Government guidelines insufficient to protect North American freshwater ecosystem from salt pollution

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PNAS Canoeing the jacques Cartier_Photo by Jake Dyson Current water quality guidelines aren't protecting freshwater ecosystems from increasing salt pollution due to road de-icing salts, agriculture fertilizers, and mining operations, according to an international study that included researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Published today in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  ( PNAS ), the research shows that freshwater salinization triggers a massive loss of zooplankton and an increase in algae -- even when levels are within the lowest thresholds established in Canada, the U.S., and throughout Europe. Story here.

U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline, study finds

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(Reuters) - Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday.   Story here. An ethanol plant at Minnedosa, MB. A PinP photo   RELATED:                                                              BURSTING THE ETHANOL BUBBLE                                                                                       The case against food-based fuel                                               

FLYER DISTRIBUTED IN WINNIPEG ASKS POLITICIANS TO END FACTORY FARMING.

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CAJ SOUNDS ALARM OVER CONTINUED RISE IN ATTACKS AGAINST CANADIAN JOURNALISTS

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The Canadian Association of journalists (CAJ) is deeply concerned about the alarming rise in harassment and threats against journalists covering the Ottawa occupation protests and similar demonstrations across the country . Story here.

"AT THE TROUGH." A VIDEO THAT NEEDS TO BE SEEN AGAIN.

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Many well-informed, dedicated and concerned individuals produced this video in 2008. Sadly, their warnings about the dirty and dangerous consequences of unregulated factory "farming" in Manitoba have not been heeded. The industry has been given free-rein and continues to expand with few, if any checks and balances. The video is less than an hour long. I implore you to take the time to watch! If you did see it before, perhaps it will remind you again of just how grave these issues really are. If you have not, I know it will concern you, too - perhaps even inspire you to take action of your own. Thank you!  PinP

W5: Fears growing that another global pandemic is on the horizon (video)

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Please also read: BEYOND COVID 19. ARE WE RISKING YET ANOTHER PANDEMIC IF WE CONTINUE TO EMBRACE "ASSEMBLY-LINE" LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION INTO THE FUTURE?

Decoding the migration of the peregrine falcon

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Nature A Satellite-tagged peregrine at its nest site in the Lena Delta, Russia.  Peregrines  were tracked from six separate breeding areas across  Arctic  Eurasia.  Genome re-sequencing identified differences among  these populations.  Variations in their numbers were linked to changes in  glacial conditions over time.  Credit: Andrew Dixon. The migratory routes used by the peregrine falcon have been shaped by environmental changes since the last Ice Age, reports  a study published in Nature.  The paper also presents evidence that the distance travelled during migration is influenced by a genetic factor. Satellite-tagged peregrine in Taimyr, Russia. Satellite tracking revealed a  high degree of  fidelity to nesting sites, wintering ranges and  to the migratory routes connecting them.   Credit: Andrew Dixon . Millions of migratory birds have seasonally favourable breeding grounds in the Arctic, but spend their winters in different locations across Eurasia. However, little is known about

Long-distance movement of microplastics

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Nature Communications Microplastic pollution collected at a Key largo, Florida beach State Park. An Ocean Blue Project photo. Microplastics, detected in southern France, could have been transported over 4,500 km from their source, including over continents and oceans, suggests a study published in Nature Communications. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution can spread globally from its sources to remote regions. Plastic pollution has been documented at high elevations and latitudes, and in regions with little local plastic use. The transportation of microplastics through the atmosphere has been suggested as occurring on regional scales. However, it is unclear how widespread this phenomenon is and, if like mercury and other pollutants, there is free transport of microplastics through the atmosphere that enables trans-continental movement. Steve Allen and colleagues collected atmospheric microplastics at the high-elevation Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees, south

Record profits for foreign-owned pig conglomerate, recently "gifted" with major grant from Canadian taxpayers to help with its Manitoba operations.

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  Below is a financial statement posted on the company website. It was recently announced that the governments of Canada and Manitoba were "investing" $2.2 million in three agricultural research projects, to be conducted by the Dutch-based conglomerate, Topigs Norsvin Canada (TN), that will "enhance the competitiveness of Manitoba pork producers." (And TN, too, no doubt!) The announcement came despite opposition to a recently approved TN project to build major pig barns near the southern Manitoba community of Plumas. It drew the outrage of many of those residents, along with the citizen group, Hogwatch Manitoba. 

Flooding caused by rapidly expanding hydroelectric dams in the tropics is pushing many jaguars and tigers to the brink of extinction

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by Larry Powell Balbina Dam flooded 3,129 square kilometers of tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon. This hydroelectric reservoir is located in the core of the distribution of jaguars. Credit: E. M. Venticinque. New research just published, finds hydropower development to satisfy the growing human demand for energy has become one of the major drivers of habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation everywhere. The dams create massive reservoirs, which drown out the homes of many creatures, including these top predators. A jaguar in the Brazilian Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland habitat in the world. Credit: Steve Winter/National Geographic. The scientists found no less than 164 dams intruding on more than 25 thousand square kilometres of jaguar range in Latin America. Sadly, plans show that number could well triple into the future. Tigers in Sumatra are a critically endangered subspecies, which face additional threats from two hydropower dams planned to be constructed withi

Melting glaciers could create new habitats for Pacific salmon

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Nature Communications US Fish & Wildlife Service` Melting glaciers in western North America could create new habitats for Pacific salmon over the next century, a modelling study in Nature Communications suggests.  Migratory Pacific salmon are one group of species whose abundances have dramatically shifted in response to changing climate patterns, however, the warming of Arctic and subarctic streams, in combination with glacier retreat, could create potential new habitats for salmon. Previous work has observed the colonization of newly de-glaciated streams by salmon, but predicting future shifts in salmon habitat across regions has been difficult.  Kara Pitman and colleagues modelled glacier retreat under different climate change scenarios for a 623,000 km2 region of western North America. They quantified emerging streams created by glacier retreat, which they combined with stream gradient-based salmon habitat models.  By 2100, the authors project that approximately 6,000 km of new