Why Climate Change Isn’t Our Biggest Environmental Problem, and Why Technology Won’t Save Us by Richard Heinberg Published by Post Carbon Institute – August 17, 2017 Reposted with permission from Ecowatch. Our core ecological problem is not climate change. It is overshoot, of which global warming is a symptom. Overshoot Read more…
Now that summer has officially arrived, I would like to look ahead at some of the events in nature that we can expect over the next three months. The actual timing of events is directly affected by temperature, rainfall, and day length. While these environmental factors obviously change throughout the Read more…
Every culture has its own origin story. They may be short anecdotes or elaborate narratives that help explain the mysteries of our existence. “Big History” is an origin story unlike any other. Instead of being rooted in a specific culture or geography, it presents a science-based perspective and is therefore Read more…
As we turn the corner into spring, let’s pause a moment to reflect back on the winter that’s been. For many people, the temperate weather was a blessing, with only moderate snowfall and temperatures well above average. Yes, the abnormally mild winter did make life easier for most of us. Read more…
We’re relatively less worried than we were in 2007 and our beliefs split sharply along political lines. By Robson Fletcher, CBC News – Posted: Mar 05, 2017 According to the latest evidence, Earth is hotter now than it has been in any of our lifetimes but Canadians are less concerned Read more…
Warm weather that arrives too soon can harm birds, trees — and people By Nicole Mortillaro, CBC News Posted: Mar 03, 2017 LINK TO ARTICLE HERE Mounting evidence suggests spring is occurring earlier as a result of climate change. While that may sound like good news, the truth is, it can Read more…
Whether doctor or meteorologist, when we fail to look at the systemic causes of the immediate problems in front of us, we are guilty of malpractice. By Richard J Jackson The Daily Climate LINK TO ARTICLE Editor’s note: This essay is adapted from a speech Dr. Richard Jackson gave at Read more…
By Brian Kahn at CLIMATE CENTRAL – Published: December 28th, 2016 This year is likely to remembered as a turning point for climate change. It’s the year the impacts of rising carbon pollution became impossible to ignore. The world is overheating and vast swaths of the planet have suffered the Read more…
Looking back at the summer of 2016, two words come immediately come to mind: drought and heat. August was a whopping 3.7 C warmer than the 1971-2000 average, while as of this week, September is about 3 C above normal temperatures. As for precipitation, July only saw one-third of normal Read more…
As much as news reports of dying sequoia trees in California, disappearing seabird colonies in Iceland, and lifeless coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean are disturbing, these impacts of climate change are still far-removed from our everyday experience. We, of course, don’t live in these far-flung places; we live in Read more…
When I turned on CBC radio Monday morning, the first thing I heard was that the price of gasoline in London had dropped to less than 85 cents a litre. A quick check on ontariogasprices.com showed Costco in Peterborough selling gas at 86.9 cents. The near-universal reaction seems to be Read more…
Inside the Paris Climate Agreement: Hope or Hype? By Brian Tokar (Dec. 30, 2015) It has become a predictable pattern at the annual UN climate conferences for participants to describe the outcome in widely divergent ways. This was first apparent after the high-profile Copenhagen conference in 2009, when a four-page Read more…
At the pussy willow patch on Xmas eve, I spotted four or five emerging pussy willows way high up in the bushes and saw a dead American Toad on Route 100 in N. Russell. It was a very large one. Lots of blooming dandelions in North Russell (in addition to Read more…
Although winter’s official start was three days ago, you certainly wouldn’t know it. Peterborough has experienced unprecedented warmth this month with temperatures averaging an amazing 9 C above normal. (Note: December ended up being 7.8 C above normal – the warmest ever recorded for Peterborough and the Kawarthas.) Not surprisingly, Read more…
From the ‘Have we screwed this planet up or what!’ department On Christmas Eve day at about 11:00am Margo and I watched a frog cross the highway in front of us on County Road 28 near Fraserville. It appeared to have dodged a stream of vehicles or is squished into Read more…
I was awakened at 4:00 this morning by the sound of Spring Peepers calling. I continued to hear calling from several directions up until about 8:00, when the wind started blowing strongly. Temperature 17 C. Valerie Kirkwood Acton’s Corners (near Kemptville, ON)
Source: Craig Welch, National Geographic, PUBLISHED Sat Dec 12 15:30:00 EST 2015 The world came together. More than 20 years after world leaders first tried hammering out an accord to tackle climate change, representatives of 195 nations on Saturday adopted a landmark agreement that seeks to scale back greenhouse gases Read more…
Source: By Haydn Watters, CBC News Posted: Dec 12, 2015 3:01 PM ET After lengthy overnight negotiations and two weeks of touch-and-go discussions, delegates at the UN climate talks in Paris have adopted a climate-change pact. The final text of the Paris Agreement — considered to be the world’s first universal climate agreement — is 31 pages long. While the plenary session Read more…
When it comes to climate change, the main take-away is that it is real. That being said, efforts by climate change deniers (at least one of whom regularly submits letters to this paper) to convince people that the science on human-caused climate change is far from settled have been quite Read more…
September 10, 2015 Written by: Anne Meador and John Zangas Source: DC Media Group – The repercussions of climate disruption are still not being acknowledged fully, warned climatologist Dr. James Hansen, addressing an audience of Baby Boomer and Greatest Generation climate activists on September 9. “We’ve now got an emergency,” Read more…
source: New York Times By SABRINA TAVERNISE JULY 13, 2015 Is climate change a serious threat to human health? Simple logic would suggest the answer is yes, a point that the Obama administration is using to build support for the president’s effort to make climate change a centerpiece of his Read more…
source: The Guardian The pope links the destruction of the environment with the exploitation of the poor. The world should pay attention Last modified on Friday 19 June 2015 00.00 BST Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si’, is the most astonishing and perhaps the most ambitious papal document Read more…
source: The Climate Group 18 June 2015 LONDON: Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group, today welcomed the Pope’s encyclical on climate change, saying it would hugely build momentum to deliver a strong global climate deal at COP21 later this year. “Pope Francis, one of the most influential leaders in Read more…
I would be interested in knowing if people have been noticing more and bigger Poison Ivy plants in recent years. This is certainly my experience. Not only do larger areas seem to be covered by this native plant, but the plants themselves seem to be much larger. In many places, Read more…
Source: CBS News By Bianca Seidman June 9, 2015 Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac plants are becoming larger and stronger, a trend that’s been developing over recent years, according to researchers. That may be a combination of the plant’s nature to cause more severe reactions over time and Read more…
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) (1) – Reported Feb 20, 2015 15:21 by Luke Berg – Otonabee River b/w Peterborough and Lakefield, Peterborough, Ontario – Map: – Checklist: – Comments: “New arrival, but not unexpected, with the freezing up of many water bodies. Female just south of Lakefield.” Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps Read more…
Running is an odd activity. To non-enthusiasts, it is a mix of monotony and self-inflicted pain. Yet, in Canada, many adults list running as their favourite participation sport – more than soccer, softball, hunting, fishing, aerobics, or tennis. Strange pleasures, it seems, are found on the trails and treadmills of Read more…
For some people, the natural world can be an intimidating place. Although it might seem illogical to be afraid of a tiny creature like a spider or bat, we can’t deny that some animals do indeed elicit a fear response. With Halloween upon us, what better time to talk about Read more…
It’s mid-May 2035, and I’ve just boarded a bus outside the new downtown condominium complex where my wife and I now live. It’s never more than a 10-minute wait for comfortable, clean and convenient public transit. On this particular morning, I’m heading up to Jackson Park, which is always Read more…
“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and science communicator This year’s unprecedented forest fires in the Northwest Territories, flooding in the southern prairies, drought in California and warmest May and June on record for Read more…