while my province burns, canadian oil & gas companies are celebrating record profits nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
@brianbanks.bsky.social
Scribbler (mainly nature, conservation, critters, science, climate); Geographer (Fellow, Royal Canadian Geographical Society); Soy nature boy. https://brian.eco/
This is our climate change reality. BC is at the sharp end of the climate change spear in terms of fire in Canada. Graph below shows annual area burned in BC 1950-2026. Top 6 years have been since 2017 and BC has experienced more area burned during 2017-2026(red) as compared to 1950-2026 (green).
This is what it looks like when you want to reform gov't to make it work better: you gather real experts & proceed in a methodical, transparent way. As opposed to gathering barely post-adolescent trolls with names like Big Balls & setting them loose with wrecking balls behind the scenes.
Zohran Mamdani’s NYC Tech Team Is What DOGE Should Have Been
The mayor of New York City has assembled a crew of Silicon Valley and United States Digital Service veterans to overhaul city services with better software.
wired.com
This by CNN is genuinely reprehensible. Everyone involved should be embarrassed. -The 'new pain' case vs Mamdani is *solely* his religion. -He was in NYC on 9/11, at grade school -Soon after attack GWB himself gave famous speech warning against blaming all Muslims for terrorism -25 yrs later, this.
CNN@cnn.com · 4d agoTwenty-five years after the mayor of New York City became the champion of America's grief and resilience at the time of the 9/11 attacks, families of those killed are split on whether the current mayor should attend the annual remembrance. https://cnn.it/4zkKYdc
Rudy Giuliani is why a lot of people died during and after 9/11. Has anyone said he shouldn't show up? How about George W. who cut anti-terrorism measures that might've prevented it? Why does racist fantasy harm matter more than real harm; the answer is racism, including in amplifying these voices.
CNN@cnn.com · 4d agoTwenty-five years after the mayor of New York City became the champion of America's grief and resilience at the time of the 9/11 attacks, families of those killed are split on whether the current mayor should attend the annual remembrance. https://cnn.it/4zkKYdc
Damn this is good. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/u...
How the Reflecting Pool Came to Mirror Trump’s Washington (Gift Article)
A hospitality manager for the Trump Organization traveled to Las Vegas to find a solution to problems at a national landmark. This is the untold back story of the fallout.
nytimes.com
said it before but we should write a paper doing a physical risk analysis of the various billionaire apocalypse bunkers this area of Argentina, for example, depends on glacier runoff
Salomé Viljoen@salome.bsky.social · 5d ago
Weather radar can track migrating bird flocks, but it can’t distinguish species. Enter BirdFlow: a new AI tool combining radar data with citizen science to identify specific species and predict migration routes, opening new doors for targeted avian conservation. Abhishyant Kidangoor reports.
From radar blobs to bird species, AI helps transform migration tracking
How can we identify specific bird species as they undertake their annual migrations? In the U.S., scientists have long relied on weather radar data to track flocks of birds migrating across the…
mongabay.cc
Rather than outright denial, the animal agriculture industry increasingly just steers both the questions researchers ask and the professional trajectories they follow. New findings on how meat & dairy greenwashing functions within public science: doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Becoming Part of the Family: Greenwashing, Animal Agriculture, and the Strategic Capture of Climate Research
Abstract. A large and growing body of research affirms the severe climate impacts of animal agriculture. Yet rather than undertake structural change, the i
doi.org
A district judge in New Mexico rules that Meta's products — including Facebook and Instagram — have created a public nuisance in the state and orders the company to pay $567 million to abate the problem over the next five years. www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_n...
Judge orders Meta to create $567M abatement fund for child harms in New Mexico
The judge's decision comes after a Santa Fe County jury in March delivered a $375 million award against the company in another part of the case.
santafenewmexican.com
Huge kudos to @booker.senate.gov, our "Elitist East Coast Politician," (😉) for opposing S. 1306, a bill that ignores science + the intent of the ESA in its efforts to remove ESA protections from gray wolves. "Elitist" must be another word for "Science-Supporting"...🤔
Hageman Says Wolf Delisting Bill Stalled By ‘Elitist East Coast Politicians’
A bill to delist wolves across the Lower 48 co-sponsored by Wyoming U.S. Sens. Barrasso and Lummis was blocked by a New Jersey Democrat. Rep. Hageman on…
cowboystatedaily.com
Congressman in 2022: Americans can’t afford groceries, do something President Biden you feckless clod! Same Congressman in 2026: Stop whining about $20 burritos, eat ramen you Gen Z losers!
Many held up the reflecting pool criminal charges (now tossed) as the most egregious example to date of Trump/GOP weaponizing government to enact tyranny over truth. This is worse than that. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/08...
Trump Live Updates: Senate Committee Votes to Hold Dr. Fauci in Contempt of Congress
nytimes.com
Toronto has front yard soft landscaping zoning requirements to address this issue (also bans on front yard parking in some areas).
Stephen Frost@sfrost.bsky.social · 6d ago😔“In 2005, about 7.5% of the UK’s front gardens were paved; by 2025 that had risen to 55%” “… changing paved gardens back to grass could reduce night-time temperatures by as much as 0.5C, and adding trees would double the benefit”
farmtario.com/news/conserv... Under the Doug Ford government, more than 320 acres of farmland has been lost EACH and EVERY day. Now members of his government are opposing faster public transit because of its consequences on *farmland.* #ONpoli #environment #food #hipocrisy
Ontario PC MPPs push back on Alto rail over farmland fears
Eleven MPPs say the project is moving without adequate consultation or farmland protection, as an advocacy group plans a Sept. 19 protest.
farmtario.com
This has been a peak week for giant swallowtails. Dozens and dozens coming through the yard, outnumbering monarchs by a mile.
This is how you do it. Let's stay united to maximize our opportunities to win the Senate in November and hold this lawless regime accountable
MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · last wk.A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…
"In 2019, researchers estimated Australia had over 20,000 volunteer wildlife carers, each of whom spend an average of $5,300 of their own money on food and equipment annually (about $100 million in total). On average, each volunteer put in 32 hours a week."
Professor Euan Ritchie FAMS@euanritchie.bsky.social · last wk.This article is excellent. It speaks volumes about how governments take so many in the environmental and conservation sectors and communities for granted theconversation.com/australia-ha.... As H5N1 begins to spread and devastate Australian wildlife the dire consequences of this are evident.
good lord though "Blasts during the fires, initially thought to be exploding gas cylinders, may have been World War Two explosives detonated by the heat, the local fire commander told local media." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
France wildfires reveal hundreds of WW2 shells in village
Explosions heard in Le Porge as the wildfires raged are believed to have have been the old munitions.
bbc.co.uk
Fucking bum…How to fix Guerrero? Wrong answers only. #BlueJays
UKLFI continues to attack pro-Palestine free speech by getting a new vegan festival cancelled after claiming music acts are antisemitic
UKLFI's desperate efforts to control anti-Israel narrative succeeds after vegan fest cancelled
UKLFI continues to attack pro-Palestine free speech by getting a new vegan festival cancelled after claiming music acts are antisemitic
thecanary.co
Seeing lots of COVID minimizing / memory-holing in the U.S. lately. A reminder of what it was like at its worst here in Alberta: "The deadliest week came right around Christmas [2020]. From Dec. 21 to 27, the novel coronavirus was claiming 24 lives per day across the province. One death per hour."
What it’s like to die from COVID — and how it feels for those left behind
Marlene Ducommun realized she was going to die and was angry for about 15 minutes. She’s one of nearly 2,000 Albertans who lost their lives to the disease in the past year.
newsinteractives.cbc.ca
We analyze the share of corn production in the U.S. going to animal feed. It's growing every year. The USDA should reconsider its mission statement "we are feeding the world" to "we are feeding the world's livestock."
Simon Oldridge@sioldridge.bsky.social · last yr.Miles & miles of maize but 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 insect—in 2 days of 🚴♀️🚴in Brittany. Maize is mainly 🐄 feed. Linked to high pesticide use—and damaging soil erosion. Governments must be honest about the hidden costs of meat. @georgemonbiot.bsky.social warned about maize a decade ago 👇