Outbreak In British Columbia Leads To Carbon Dioxide Crisis.
Vancouver, B.C.- For years there has been an annual outbreak in the Canadian NW forests of the Mountain Pine Beetle. But the vast infestation this year is leading to massive releases of greenhouse gases, and may lead to Canada totally missing their air quality goals.
The Mountain Pine Beetle has previously been held in check, mostly striking the NW part of Canada in the British Columbia region. But warmer temperatures in recent decades, along with forest fire suppression have allowed the pine beetle to take over. (more…)
St. John River Rises To Cover Parts Of Trans Canada Highway
Fredericton- Warmer temperatures and melting snow have coupled with the area rainfall to bring rising rivers conditions and flooding to parts of New Brunswick.
River levels have risen and threaten buildings in parts of Fredericton, as well as various parts of Route 105 and the Maugerville area. The river had risen and covered parts of the Trans Canadian Highway on Wednesday.
The river has risen over 10 centimetres since Wednesday and is expected to raise at least that much and possibly more by midday Thursday.
Frederickton is experiencing some of the worst flooding with river levels already threatening a hotel, art gallery and other public buildings. The river has achieved high flood levels throughout the town.
Residents in the region had been warned and are preparing for the worst, with valuables being removed to high ground and some people relocating to upper floors of their homes for safety.
Road Washouts are expected throughout the region and motorists are urged to be cautious and remain vigilant while motoring though the province. Crews are attempting to post warnings where necessary but the rising river and changing conditions are sometimes more swift than crews are able to respond.
Melting Is Approaching Point Of No Return Says WWF
Montreal- A number of years in a row of warmer than average temperatures are leading the permanent Arctic Pack Ice to dip below levels ever seen. The Arctic Ice is melting faster and at a significantly increased rate, with no end in sight.
The current level of Arctic Pack Sea ice is nearly 39 percent below the average level that it was from 1979 – 2000, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF has just completed a new study whose results are alarming and causes a great deal of concern.
The overall levels of Ice in the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland Ice Sheet were measured and estimated to be 4.4 million cubic metres, and 2.9 million cubic metres, respectively. The measurements were taken in September of 2007, and reveal that the state of both Ice masses is at the lowest ever recorded levels.
Experts are not only alarmed at the current state of the ice sheets, but officials and experts are beginning to question if the Ice Sheets have reached a “Tipping point,” or a level beyond which they are not likely to recover.
The Ice Sheet measurements are scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Arctic Council Meeting, which is comprised of member nations Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Norway, and the United States.
New Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Allows Even Tougher Bans By Towns
Toronto- Despite the toughness shown in its new ban on Cosmetic garden pesticides the cities and villages of Canada may decide to grow even stricter. In legislation introduced yesterday various lawn and garden cosmetic type pesticides would be banned by 2009.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has stated that municipalities are open to impose even tougher restrictions than the ban that is scheduled to go into effect next spring.
Ontario will thereby have a new ban on many of the garden and law pesticides. According to the new law, golf courses, farms and certain managed forests are exempt, but the rest of the general public will not be allowed to buy or sell these substances after the spring of 2009. (more…)
Carbon Emissions Are Cut Dramatically Also By Better Construction
Oshawa - There is a continued push for the creation of more efficient buildings. While there are many ways to lessen the amount of carbon emissions, one of the most effective and quickest to implement would be to simply build and construct buildings that reduce carbon emissions.
This will not happen without huge changes in building codes, at least in North American Construction. The best way to effect climate change would be to take many of the building codes and start over.
This is the approach favored by the latest report from a Canadian Environmental Agency. (more…)
Los Angeles - Paris Hilton has reportedly been seen smoking marijuana outside a Los Angeles nightclub.
The hotel heiress – who told US chat show host Larry King in a recent interview she had never taken drugs – climbed out of an SUV car in front of trendy Hollywood hangout Teddy’s in what witness described as a cloud of marijuana smoke.
One fellow clubber told the New York Post newspaper: “She took a huge puff off of a joint, then opened the door and exhaled the pot smoke basically in my face.”
A representative for Paris – who was released from prison two weeks ago after serving 23 days for driving with a suspended licence – has so far refused to comment on the allegations.
Last Friday (06.07.07), Paris enjoyed her first night of partying since leaving jail.
The socialite enjoyed a night of drinking and dancing at Hollywood hotspot Les Deux with a group of friends and her sister Nicky.
At one point, the 26-year-old blonde - who was wearing a grey shirt and black fedora hat - stood on a couch and danced “seductively”.
Bill Prozena has left his position as director of the National Hurricane Center in the United States after about half of the center’s employees called for his removal. He has been re-assigned within the center and will be replaced by deputy director Ed Rappaport.
Hurricane Center employees accuse Proenza of misrepresenting the problem with the satellite.
Proenza took the position earlier this year, replacing longtime director Max Mayfield.
National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said, “We need to move forward. Effective immediately Ed Rappaport will serve as acting director on an interim basis.”
Toronto - Northern Canada ponds which are usually full of water this time of year are being destroyed by global warming as they are being all dried up.
These ponds used to support life in the Arctic for thousands of years, now all that is left are holes with dirt.
The shallow ponds in Ellesmere Island are drying up due to greenhouse gases and global warming which comes from them.
John Smol, who wrote the report with Marianne Douglas, stated that “What happens in the Arctic will affect us all, and not in good ways.”
The report is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Smol visited 40 ponds since 1983 and fossil records show the ponds were stable until 100 years ago when industrial pollution began the warming process.
Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a plan to reduce how much smog is allowed to be released into the atmosphere.
The new standard would lower the amount of allowable smog by as much as 20% in the coming decades. Stephen Johnson, an EPA Administrator, stated that the standards currently in place are not enough. He stated that based on the science currently known the standard set today is “not sufficient to protect the public health, and so I am proposing to toughen the standard.”
If the standard does go through it is going to triple the number of counties in the U.S. which do not comply with the standards set for federal air pollution regulations.
The big problem though is that big business and industry may lose billions of dollars if this does go through. The actual hard numbers the EPA has proposed is that the allowable amount of smog in the air should be reduced from 84 parts per billion to around 70 parts per billion.
Toronto - A Canadian Inuit who has drawn attention to the effects of climate change in the Arctic was honoured by the United Nations for his campaign on Wednesday.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, 53, received the Mahbub ul Haq Award for Excellence in Human Development for her efforts to sound the alarm about the effects of greenhouse gases on the way of life of native peoples, like the Inuit.
The warming of the earth damages the permafrost, causing erosion in the Arctic and forcing more Inuit to leave their ancestral land and start over elsewhere. Animals that the Inuit have traditionally used as food are also fighting to survive or are moving further north, Watt-Cloutier said.
The changing conditions also impact native peoples in Alaska, Greenland and Russia.
The award is given annually and is named for Mahbub ul Haq, who founded an independent development project to raise the standard of human development around the world.
Watt-Cloutier has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.