Toxic algae bloom may be largest ever off U.S. West Coast – ‘We’ve never had to close essentially half our coast’

By Sandi Doughton15 June 2015 (Seattle Times) – A team of federal biologists set out from Oregon Monday to survey what could be the largest toxic algae bloom ever recorded off the West Coast. The effects stretch from Central California to British Columbia, and possibly as far north as Alaska. Dangerous levels of the natural […]

Document shows Canadian government has been fully aware of tar sands dangers

By Jennifer Skene10 June 2015 (NRDC) – A document recently released under Canada’s access-to-information law reveals that Canadian government officials have been aware of the proliferation of contaminants associated with tar sands mining even as they continues to promote industry expansion with minimal regulation. The January 2015 briefing note, prepared for Natural Resources Minister Greg […]

As Bonn climate talks conclude, another failure for Planet Earth, humanity – ‘Even if we have 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, the impacts will continue for another 100 years’

By Jon Queally11 June 2015 (Common Dreams) – As ten days of UN-sponsored climate talks came to end in Bonn, Germany on Thursday morning, global campaigners demanding far-reaching solutions to the crisis of a warming planet expressed dissatisfaction on multiple levels, charging that the continued foot-dragging of governments is sentencing future generations to unparalleled catastrophe […]

British Columbia heat wave breaks records – Northwest Territories brace for another record-breaking summer of forest fires

By Meagan Wohlberg4 June 2015 (Vice) – It usually takes at least a few months before forestry officials in the Northwest Territories start talking about firefighter fatigue, but all 28 fire crews had the last weekend of May off in order to avoid impending burnout. The proactive measure is just one indicator that this year’s […]

Alberta forest fire forces evacuation of oilsands facilities

23 May 2015 (CBC News) – Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Limited have evacuated their facilities within the Cold Lake Air Weapons range, close to Alberta’s eastern border, due to an out-of-control forest fire in the area. “Yesterday, CNRL evacuated their plant facilities in the Primrose area and then, last night at 11 o’clock, […]

Graph of the Day: Exponential production from the Athabasca bitumen mines, 1985-2014

23 May 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Recently, Canada announced that it will reduce carbon emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. But the province of Alberta is home to the Athabasca bitumen mines, aka the “Alberta tar sands” mines. The disastrous environmental effects of Alberta’s open pit mines have been […]

Tree-cover loss spikes in Russia and Canada, remains high globally

By Nigel Sizer, Rachael Petersen, James Anderson, Matt Hansen, Peter Potapov, and David Thau2 April 2015 (WRI) – New, high-resolution satellite-based maps released today by the University of Maryland and Google on Global Forest Watch, a partnership of over 60 organizations convened by the World Resources Institute, reveal a significant recent surge in tree cover […]

Massive amounts of fresh water, glacial melt pouring into Gulf of Alaska – Melt adds 57 cubic kilometers of water per year

CORVALLIS, Oregon, 19 March 2015 (OSU) – Incessant mountain rain, snow and melting glaciers in a comparatively small region of land that hugs the southern Alaska coast and empties fresh water into the Gulf of Alaska would create the sixth largest coastal river in the world if it emerged as a single stream, a recent […]

WikiLeaks releases secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) investment chapter – ‘Finally everyone can see for themselves that the TPP would give multinational corporations extraordinary new powers that undermine our sovereignty’

WASHINGTON, D.C., 25 March 2015 (Public Citizen) – The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (TPP) Investment Chapter, leaked today, reveals how the pact would make it easier for U.S. firms to offshore American jobs to low-wage countries while newly empowering thousands of foreign firms to seek cash compensation from U.S. taxpayers by challenging U.S. government actions, laws, and […]

Warmer weather in Alberta and B.C.’s mountains creating shorter ski season – ‘Right now, we’re headed down a disastrous path’

By Mike Hager13 March 2015 (The Globe and Mail) – John Pomeroy had long sensed something was amiss with the Earth’s climate, but a balmy mid-winter rain shower in the Rockies finally offered him incontrovertible proof that dramatic changes were occurring. It was 2005, and Prof. Pomeroy, one of Canada’s leading hydrologists, was re-establishing the […]

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