Bear necessities


Re
<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-how-a-bc-co
nservation-officers-refusal-to-kill-two-bear-cubs-sparked-a/> A Conservation
Officer’s Refusal To Kill (Oct. 23):

I applaud former conservation officer
Bryce Casavant for taking a principled stand in not killing two bear cubs.
Doing the right thing should not have had such devastating consequences for
him.

Human activity is by far the leading cause of habitat loss that forces
wildlife into closer quarters with us. Species that survive are then too
often characterized as nuisances or dangers. Thousands of animals are killed
each year as a result. These actions are irreversible and have implications
for the natural world for decades, even centuries, to come.

Mr. Casavant’s story is an example of the need to re-evaluate this paradigm.
His experience should move us to find restrained and non-lethal solutions to
the human and wildlife conflicts we create.

Kelly Duffin Toronto

_____

In one Canadian province alone, “conservation officers” are killing an
average of almost two animals a day. It’s clear to me that “conservation” is
an incorrect description of their job.

Michael Enns Ottawa

_____

It strikes me that the B.C. Conservation Service acts as though
“conservation” applies to humans and their habitats, rather than to wildlife
and its habitats.

If its role is the former, this organization should be renamed “Animal
Control.”

But if conservation really pertains to wildlife, then the policies,
procedures, staffing and training – and potentially governing legislation –
of the Conservation Service should be adjusted where required.

Hélène MacLean Ottawa

COP26 has come under fire for its decision to serve meat, including beef, at the upcoming summit

by Jemima Webber27th October 2021

Share:

Print

Reading Time: 2 minutes

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a campaign aimed at the world leaders attending COP26 this year. The initiative urges them to go vegan for the sake of the planet – a message that’s sent loud and clear via the sides of half a dozen buses. 

PETA, said to be the largest animal rights organization in the world, launched the campaign in Glasgow, where the United Nations’ climate change conference is being held this year. It’s the 26th event of its kind.

The advertisement will appear on buses that run through the city center, including past the Scottish Event Campus where COP26 will take place from October 31 to November 12, 2021.

“You can’t be a meat-eating environmentalist. Take Personal Responsibility: Go Vegan,” the bus ads reads. The campaign will run until November 14.

COP26

COP26 unites world leaders with the shared goal of protecting the planet from the escalating climate emergency. There, they will conjure up strategies to reduce emissions, pollution, and deforestation, for example.

But some have criticized COP26 for overlooking the food system’s impact on the planet. Animal farming practices, in particular, are resource-intensive and responsible for huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. 

As a consequence, environmentalists have called on the conference to serve only vegan food. 

However, despite promising to focus on plant-based meals, COP26’s menu still features dishes like turkey, salmon, and beef. The latter has repeatedly been identified as one of the most destructive foods to produce.

“The UN has stated that a global shift to vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change,” commented PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner. “PETA’s ad blitz is a wake-up call to anyone who can look at a plate of sausage or black pudding without considering the environmental impact of these foods – or the animals who suffered for them.”

RELATED VEGAN & PLANT-BASED NEWS

• MPs Vow To End Animal Agriculture Ahead Of Global Climate Change Conference, COP26
• 7th October 2021

• Alan Cumming Insists COP26 Must Serve Plant-Based Food ‘To Protect The Planet’
• 1st July 2021

• Spanish Vegan Meat Brand Urges UK PM Boris Johnson To Ensure COP26 Is Plant-Based

BYMatthew Rozsa, SalonPUBLISHEDOctober 21, 2021SHAREShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via Email

READING LISTPRISONS & POLICINGMinneapolis Set to Vote on Dissolving Police DepartmentHUMAN RIGHTSIt’s Not Just the Missionaries — There Were 782 Kidnappings in Haiti This YearENVIRONMENT & HEALTHDemocrats Will Subpoena Big Oil to Force Disclosure of Climate Denial CampaignsHUMAN RIGHTSBiden’s DOJ Downplayed Suicide Risk for Assange in Appeal of Extradition DenialPOLITICS & ELECTIONSThe Centerpiece of the Build Back Better Climate Plan Has Been Stripped OutPOLITICS & ELECTIONSMeadows’s Delay to Comply With Jan. 6 Subpoena May Lead to Contempt Charges

The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro are nothing short of iconic. Photographs of the dormant volcano in Tanzania often highlight the white streaks on the side, which grow thicker as they rise toward the top. When you arrive at the cap of the volcano, it becomes nothing but white, like a dollop of cream pressed flat and smeared over the top of a lava cake.

Thanks to climate change, however, Mount Kilimanjaro is warming up. That means that while there still may be snow atop the mountain in a few decades, it is likely that the glaciers will disappear.

There are only three mountains on the entire African continent that are covered by glaciers, according to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization and other agencies. In addition to Kilimanjaro, these include the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda and the Mount Kenya massif in Kenya, and they are vital to the economies of the surrounding areas. The glaciers bring in tourism and are closely studied by scientists. They are also, tragically, retreating at a much faster rate than glaciers throughout the world are doing on average — a cruel irony, considering that the 54 countries in Africa contribute less than four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Uncompromised, uncompromising news

Get reliable, independent news and commentary delivered to your inbox every day.

• Email

This fact was not lost on the authors of the report. Moreover, the loss of the glaciers is not the biggest humanitarian problem facing Africa due to global warming: the continent faces rising sea levels, floods, droughts, landslides and extreme weather events.

Still, the loss of Africa’s glaciers symbolize how priceless natural wonders are being irreversibly destroyed by greenhouse gas pollution, as well as the fact that populations which did very little to cause this problem are being most affected.

“The rapid shrinking of the last remaining glaciers in eastern Africa, which are expected to melt entirely in the near future, signals the threat of imminent and irreversible change to the Earth system,” WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas explained in a foreword to the report. The authors also did not mince words about their somber predictions for the future of African mountain glaciers.

“If this continues, it will lead to total deglaciation by the 2040s,” the authors explained. “Mount Kenya is expected to be deglaciated a decade sooner, which will make it one of the first entire mountain ranges to lose glaciers due to human-induced climate change.”

The report focused on the economic impact of climate change in Africa, noting that gross domestic product may fall in the sub-Saharan region by up to three percent by 2050 because of warming temperatures. By 2030, the co-authors project that up to 118 million people in the region who are classified as extremely poor (meaning they live on less than $1.90 per day) will be exposed to floods, droughts and extreme heat because of climate change. The authors also noted that Madagascar is already facing “famine-like conditions” due to climate change and that South Sudan is seeing the worst flooding in more than half a century. Despite these stark realities, African countries are notoriously underrepresented in multinational groups that attempt to address the problem of climate change.

1 / 28

Climate COP26 Photo Gallery

A train passes a railroad crossing surrounded by floodwaters from rain and melting snow in Nidderau near Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)More

SETH BORENSTEINSat, October 30, 2021, 12:51 AM·1 min readIn this article:

• António GuterresSecretary-General of the United Nations

Fires raged. Rivers flooded. Ice melted. Droughts baked. Storms brewed. Temperatures soared. And people died.

Climate change in 2021 reshaped life on planet Earth through extreme weather.

World leaders are gathering in Scotland to try to accelerate the fight to curb climate change. So far, it’s not working, as the world keeps getting hotter and its weather more extreme, scientists and government officials say. They don’t have to point far back in time or far off for examples.- ADVERTISEMENT -https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-6-0/html/r-sf-flx.html

There have been deadly floods in Belgium, Germany, China and Tennessee. Fire blazed in parts of the U.S. West, Greece and even the Arctic.

Heat waves proved deadly and unprecedented, pushing temperatures in the Northwest and even reaching 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) in Portland, Oregon, a city known for its mild climate. Hurricane Ida paralyzed New York City with record-breaking, deadly rain.

“These events would have been impossible without human-caused climate change,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

In just the United States, there have been 18 weather or climate disasters this year with losses exceeding $1 billion a year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Those 18 disasters caused 538 deaths and nearly $105 billion in damage. In the 1980s, the average year only saw three such disasters.

A report from AIR Worldwide, a global risk modeling firm, estimates that now each year extreme weather is costing $320 billion around the world, with only about one-third of it insured.

“We now have five times the number of recorded weather disasters than we had in 1970, and they are seven times more costly,” Guterres said, speaking about global totals. “Even the most developed countries have become vulnerable.”

https://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-reshaped-earth-extreme-075131523.html

By Elizabeth Piper and Michel Rose

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-johnson-does-not-rule-out-french-trade-dispute-action-next-week-2021-10-30/

4 minute read

French fishermen repair their nets at Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, December 28, 2020. Picture taken December 28, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

• Summary

• British, French leaders suggest they want to ease tensions
• Britain’s Frost launches blistering attack
• Row further strains neighbours’ post-Brexit ties

ROME, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Britain stepped up a war of words with France on Saturday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson refusing to rule out triggering trade dispute action next week in a fishing row and his Brexit minister sharply criticising Paris’ actions.

Johnson, who is hosting the U.N. climate summit next week, again said he did not want the spat over fish to derail this weekend’s meeting of the world’s 20 biggest economies, seen as a stepping stone to secure more commitments for COP26 in Glasgow.https://7b0aa71e7e192000e4d0a5ddd2d333ee.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.htmlReport ad

But a volley of angry statements from Brexit minister David Frost underlined how seriously London was taking a letter sent by Paris calling on the European Union to demonstrate the damage of leaving the bloc. He described it as “very troubling”.

After an earlier British-hosted G7 meeting was overshadowed by a disagreement with the EU over post-Brexit problems with the movement of sausages and other goods to Northern Ireland, Johnson also made a move to defuse the row.Report ad

“If there is a breach of the treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests,” Johnson told Sky News in the Colosseum in Rome, where he is attending a G20 meeting.

Asked if he would rule out triggering dispute resolution measures in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) next week, Johnson said: “No of course not, I don’t rule that out.”

“But what I think everybody wants to see (is) cooperation between the European allies and Emmanuel Macron and I share a common perspective which is that climate change is a disaster for humanity.”

Relations with France have become increasingly strained since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, with London’s security pact with the United States and Australia doing little to build trust with Paris. French President Macron has questioned Britain’s “credibility”. read more

Fishing, which dogged Brexit talks for years, while not economically crucial to either country, holds huge political importance to both, and the row, if not resolved, could trigger the beginning of dispute measures in the Brexit trade deal.

Any such measures would likely involve convening an arbitration panel and could result in a demand for compensation or suspension of obligations.

FIST BUMP

The letter sent by French Prime Minister Jean Castex to the EU calling on the bloc to demonstrate there was “more damage to leaving the EU than to remaining there” has also soured ties.

Frost said he hoped “this opinion is not held more widely across the EU”, calling its expression in a letter “clearly very troubling and very problematic”. read more

Johnson also expressed his concerns “about the rhetoric from the French government” at a meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said Brussels was “intensively engaging for finding solutions”.

In Rome, Johnson and Macron exchanged a mock-combative fist bump but did not appear to speak to one another as the leaders took a “family photo”. They are due to see each other for a brief meeting on Sunday.

“We have been seeking to work with the French government to issue more fishing licences, we stand ready to continue that work,” Johnson’s spokesman said.

With an election in April in which Macron is expected to seek a new term, some British officials say he is seeking to look tough to appeal to the electorate. Some European diplomats see Johnson’s government as likewise taking a firm stance to please Brexit supporters.

The issue escalated this week when a British scallop dredger was escorted to a French port after French officials said it did not have the correct documentation. Paris has said it could begin to impose targeted measures from Tuesday, including heightening some checks, if the dispute is not resolved.

But a French diplomatic source told Reuters Macron shared Johnson’s aim of easing tensions.

“The president is in favour of calming things down, but at the same time he can’t pretend the British are not reneging on the commitments they’ve made,” the source said.Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Michel Rose in Rome and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Helen Popper and David Holmes