Environment
Frostbite Today, and Tanning Next Week
It's friggin' cold outside - well below the average normal high for this time of year, which is about -1°C. It's days like this that often make me wonder why we choose to live in Toronto. But all that is changing, due in part to our selfish and filthy behaviour.
Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold weather statement for the city. But since global warming is real and weather patterns are no longer what they used to be (i.e. somewhat predictable and relatively consistent over the years), we've learned in recent years that just about anything can happen.
While today is a bone-chilling -14°C with a wind chill of -24°C, in just 5 days we might see highs of up to 13°C. That's a range of almost 30°C, and not at all normal.
Bundle up today, but be prepared to take it all off next week.
Screecap via The Weather Network.
Discussion
20 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
That means I'll have to buy a new g string this weekend.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/science/01tier.html?_r=1&;oref=slogin
But hey, since it was Al Gore who "took the initiative in creating the Internet", it should be up to him to decide if the Internet will be all about Global Warming(R).
Wanna buy some carbon credits?
And so he makes a film and lectures about global warming...WHAT exactly is the harm in that? He's not proposing we nuke the moon.
Yes, we know the difference between weather and climate. Unfortuantely, plants and animals are still playing catch up, but who cares about them, oh, unless you eat. And are you then saying that changes in the climate won't affect the weather? So, you don't believe for a second that 100 years of industrial emmissions and pollution or greenhouse gases could in any way, shape or form affect our atmosphere, climate or weather patterns? That heaping pile of plastic garbage the size of Texas, floating and disintegrating in the Pacific ocean is a holiday island retreat for fish who just want to take a break from breathing. No, human consumption and waste hasn't affected this planet in any way, not for a second, No, you're way too sharp for that. Gore's just up there talking out of his ass, right? Because you believe someone who twisted what he ACTUALLY said, why on earth would you listen to him warning YOU that YOUR planet and YOUR grandchildren are in danger. Yeah, pay no attention. 13 degree days in the middle of the winter are no big deal, it's only weather. Stay ignorant and continue making sharp, witty comments like that, but speak clearly, people will want to hear you through your respirator.
Yes, Gore did in fact make a positive difference in the development of the Web (not the Internet, but many fail to see the distinction) by securing funding for the development of "the Information Superhighway".
I imagine that Mr. Cerf and Bob Kahn hoped to keep the money coming when they publicly thanked the campaigning Gore for this.
Just what many "climate researchers" hope will happen when they cherry-pick data to support Global Warming.
And no, the end won't justify your means of stampeding people into unthinking action on the subject of climate change. Doing something stupid could prove to be more harmful in the end than doing nothing at all.
Yeah, driving less, reducing energy,water consumption, pollution and our carbon footprint would be a huge mistake, what would our grandchildren think if we actually had tried to actually do something, let's not get drastic and tell people to turn off a light or don't buy Hummers/SUV's. If only there were something we could bomb instead.
If you had to carry a couple of gallon jugs of water (which is hardly clear by our standards)10 miles and that was your supply for the week, how much of it would you waste? Wait until the south starts tapping into YOUR water supply because they can't flush a toilet anymore, or when water becomes the new oil and everybody wishes they had conserved more or not polluted every last remaining river.
"Gone are the days when former Vice President Al Gore was the lone political voice talking about global warming and alternative energy. Not only have Gore's fellow Democrats detailed positions on the issue, but Republicans ? historically more reluctant to talk about global warming and energy ? have begun to find their voices as well." "
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/06/2111509.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/16/ncar116.xml
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/science/earth/27cool.html
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/01/20/scientists_use_creativity_to_fight_global_warming/
http://www.livescience.com/environment/060720_jelly_creatures.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/business/01plankton.html
(Disclaimer: I cherry-picked these links to prove my point. So where's my Nobel Prize?)
Also, Steve wrote: "from the Christian Science Monitor, just today....(blah)"
Big deal, now the anti-Evolution crowd have joined forces with the Global Warming crowd. Still doesn't make them right:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/01/15/evangelical_leaders_join_scientists_to_fight_global_warming/
I'd rather see science used to fight global warming in "unthinking ways" than to figure out ways to kill thousands at once in "thinking ways".
Except that science used in unthinking ways CAN kill thousands.
Example:
1. Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" alerts us to the potential threat of DDT to bird populations.
2. Science says "Well, DDT CAN cause significant thinning of egg shells and lower the hatching rate ...if used in mega-doses."
3.Unthinking public says "OMG! It can kill birds? We LIKE birds!"
4. U.S. Politicians eager for re-election ban the manufacture and use of DDT domestically and the sale of it to other nations who had been using it.
5. Tens of millions of people over the next few years die or malaria and other diseases who would have otherwise lived if somebody just stopped to think a minute.
I have more if you like.