Author Archive

Canada: Enbridge ‘Line 9’ Protest Concert Draws 2,000 to Toronto

Metro: Threatening skies and encroaching curtains of fog weren’t enough to deter upwards of 2,000 concerned Toronto residents from attending a protest concert against Enbridge’s “Line 9” oil pipeline proposal in North York’s Mel Lastman Square on Sunday afternoon. Kingston roots-rocker Sarah Harmer, local singer/songwriter Hayden, Guelph’s Minotaurs and the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie performing with Toronto’s Sadies as his backing band, came out to add their voices to a growing chorus of worry across...

United Kingdom: Anti-oil drilling and fracking demonstration: Crowds to march through Balcombe

Metro: Campaigners will attempt to get their voices heard today, when a legion of impassioned activists take to the streets in protest against gas and oil exploration in the English countryside. Anti-fracking and oil drilling demonstrators will march at 3pm in Balcombe, West Sussex, the town near to a site on which energy firm, Cuadrilla Resources Ltd, is hoping to stage a test drill. Masses of environmental activists, local Sussex residents and even perhaps a few celebrities – Vivienne Westwood was...

Climate rise places Africa’s vital maize crop at risk

Metro: A rise in temperature of just 1C could devastate yields of Africa's vital maize crop by as much as a fifth. Even with adequate amounts of rain, two-thirds would suffer losses, new research indicates. 'The pronounced effect of heat on maize was surprising because we assumed maize to be among the more heat-tolerant crops,' said Dr Marianne Banziger, from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre based in El Batan, Mexico. 'Essentially, the longer a maize crop is exposed to temperatures...