Hug A Climate Scientist Today!

Today is officially “Hug a Climate Scientist Day”, a reminder that climate scientists are our friends!  Don’t forget to do so, virtually, or in reality if you happen to have one as a neighbour or colleague.

For years climate scientists have been carrying a huge load for the rest of us, staring the climate crisis in the face day in and day out while the rest of us have been oblivious to the danger we are putting ourselves and our children into. Increasingly they are doing this while being attacked on many fronts. It’s not easy, I would imagine, to live with the stark reality of human-caused climate change day in and day out, especially if you are a climate scientist with children and grandchildren. But to add personal attacks, including death threats, to what a scientist has to put up with because of their career choice must be horrifying as well as being so, so discouraging.

On a lighter note, here’s one person’s take on the day from Crikey.com:

Customers are asked to not squeeze the Climate Scientists.
Ripeness can be ascertained if the stem gives to gentle pressure.
Supplies have been affected by recent unseasonal weather patterns.

So,  to all the scientists out there working on this oh-so-important issue, thank you, thank you, thank you!  I only wish you could be paid an oil executive’s salary for all you do (and they could receive your’s – then we’d see how many of them complained that climate scientists are in it for the money!).  Consider yourselves hugged 350 times!

More links:

Australian National University Scientists Being Threatened For Researching Climate Science

Leap In the Lake For Climate Action

I’ve been rather busy lately, and one of the reasons is that I’m helping to organize an event to focus some attention on the urgent need to address climate change, while there is still a window for action.  So, this Saturday at 11:00 a.m., a hardy group of souls, including me, will be jumping into our local lake and raising money  for a good cause – our local Emergency Shelter’s local food initiative – at the same time.

For those of you who don’t live in northern Ontario, this may not sound like a foolhardy thing to do at the end of April.  However, when we committed to doing this back in March the odds were not good that the ice would be gone on the lake, although the average ice break-up day has been trending earlier over recent decades.  Last year, the ice was gone on April 20th, but the average ice-free day is May 7th.  This year it’s been a cool spring, and the ice is still quite solid.  This is what the dock looked like on April 12:

Town docks, April 12.2011

If the weather had stayed spring-like, we would probably be jumping into open water.  However, that wasn’t the case.  This is what the lake looked like 8 days later:

Town docks. April 20th.2011

There’s actually less open water!

So today I have a dedicated crew (thanks Perry, Chris, and Jordan!) who are going to get out on the ice and cut us a hole to jump into.  Then on Saturday, a local scuba diver trained in ice diving is going to be on hand, along with the local gold mine’s ice rescue team, just in case there’s an unexpected problem (thanks Ed and Mo!).

We are also going to have some guest “Celebrity Leapers”.  Graham Saunders, a meteorologist and lecturer at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay as well as author of “Gardening in a Short Growing Season” is making the 7-hour drive up to Red Lake to participate in the Leap in Red Lake as well as the local Earth Festival that is happening on this weekend.  Graham, who is also the President of Environment North, has been a guest blogger on 350orbust in the past.  Also making the trip from Thunder Bay is Peter Rosenbluth, the Northern Connections Coordinator for Ontario Nature.

I extended the invitation to participate in this local event to each of the candidates running in the federal election – Greg Rickford is the incumbent CONServative MP, Roger Valley is the Liberal candidate, Tania Cameron is running for the NDP, and Mike Schwindt is the Green Party candidate.  I haven’t heard anything back from Rickford’s office, despite several emails.  Mr. Valley declined the invitation but is supposed to be sending a delegate from his campaign team.  Ms. Cameron’s campaign manager told me she had another commitment that day, although I see that on the Facebook event page she is now signed up as “attending”.  And Mike Schwindt, the courageous Green Party candidate, has been an enthusiastic supporter, and willing “leaper”, since he first heard about it.

So, wish us luck on Saturday!  And even more important, consider creative and fun ways to raise the issue of taking action on climate change in your community.  Together, we can do this!

Thanks to Dimitris, Marlene, Suzanne, Perry, Catherine, Kaaren, Eleanor, Kelly and Donna who have stepped up to the plate in an amazing way to help make this event happen.  As well, Miigweech to the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre for offering their space, and hot chocolate, on Saturday morning.  And, of course, a big shout out to all the “Leapers” who are crazy enough – and committed enough – to take a leap for a really good cause!

Actress Ellen Page Gets To Work On Climate Change

This just in from 350.org – actress Ellen Page weighs in on the Global Work Party – 10/10/10.

Ellen is not only a great actress (you may have seen her in “Inception” or “Juno”), she’s also a devoted student of permaculture and sustainability. She wrote me the other day to say that Los Angeles had just set a new all-time temperature record, 113 degrees. From Los Angeles to Laos, it seems that we’re all in this together.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkldRVR54Y]

More links:

350.org

What Will It Take For Us To Live Like “There is no Planet B”?

These stories jumped out at me this week, as clear evidence that we are soon going to “hit the wall” as our consumer-driven, “the economy is what counts, all the rest is noise” ways push our planet to the limit, and beyond. What will it take for us to realize that as our water, air, and land goes, so go we? We aren’t viable if we have to breathe and eat toxins, our lands aren’t arable, and our oceans are so acidified from absorbing our carbon dioxide emissions that mass extinction of marine life happens.

Here are some of the stories that drove this point home to me this week:

Weather-related disasters are here to stay, say scientists:

Floods, fires, melting ice and feverish heat.

From smoke-choked Moscow to water-soaked Pakistan, a sweltering southern Ontario and the High Arctic, the planet seems to be having a midsummer breakdown. It’s not just a portent of things to come, scientists say, but a sign of troubling climate change already under way.

The weather-related cataclysms of July and August fit patterns predicted by climate scientists, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization says — although those scientists always shy from tying individual disasters directly to global warming. The experts now see an urgent need for better ways to forecast extreme events like Russia’s heat wave and wildfires and the record deluge devastating Pakistan. They’ll discuss such tools in meetings this month and next in Europe and America, under United Nations, U.S. and British government sponsorship.

“There is no time to waste,” because societies must be equipped to deal with global warming, says British government climatologist Peter Stott… Read the full article on the Weather 360 blog at The Star.com.

‘Global Weirding’: Extreme Climate Events Dominate The Summer:

A heatwave in Russia is sparking wildfires that are driving residents from Moscow and devastating the country’s wheat crop. A fifth of Pakistan is underwater and millions are deluged by floods in Asia. Another heatwave is torturing Mexico and the East Coast of the United States. An incomprehensibly large chunk of ice has broken off a glacier in Greenland, the most significant climate event there in 50 years.

Most scientists caution that no single event can be tied specifically to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But climate-change deniers quickly point to the first snowfall in winter as evidence against global warming. If that’s the standard, the extreme climate events all across the globe must say something about whether climate change is already upon us. Indeed, the regularity of the events is beginning to undermine the descriptor “extreme”. Extreme is the new normal…Read the full article on The Huffington Post.

Jersey Shore: Dead Fish Wash Ashore in Thousands For Second Time This Week On East Coast:

NBC Philadelphia reports that tens of thousands of dead menhaden fish washed ashore Wednesday on a New Jersey beach along Delaware Bay.

The incident is strikingly similar to an occurrence from Monday, when thousands of dead menhaden also washed ashore over 200 miles away in Fairhaven, MA…To read the full article, go to The Huffington Post.

And, by Marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor Rikki Ott:  Seafood Safety and Politics Don’t Mix: Opening of Gulf Fisheries At Odds with Evidence of Harm

I have been in the Gulf since May 3 and have witnessed the outbreak of a public-health epidemic as the oil and dispersant came ashore. Every day now, former workers, Gulf coast residents, and visitors share similar stories with me of respiratory problems, central nervous system problems, chemical sensitivities, or bad skin rashes after exposure to air or water in the Gulf — predictable illnesses from chemical exposure, all of which were avoidable given adequate warning and protection.

Stories of illnesses persist despite assurances from four federal agencies — the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the U.S. Coast Guard — that no levels of oil or dispersant measured in Gulf water or air were found to be unsafe.

I try to focus on the positive things that each of us can do to make the planet a better, not a worse, place for the next generation, so I apologize if you are feeling overwhelmed or despairing.  Each of us can make a difference – but we do need to acknowledge how bad things have gotten so that a sense of urgency accompanies our actions. See Bill McKibbon’s latest post, We’re Hot As Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More. Remember Joe Romm’s words: “Get informed, get outraged, and then get politically active.”  If you need ideas, head over to 350.org and sign up to join or organize a work party on 10/10/10 – be part of the global “get to work on climate change” party.

Google Earth: The Climate Crisis

I found this great compilation video at the WordPress blog Earth Online Media. Watch it, and hear about the potential impacts of climate change on our planet Earth and find out about possible solutions for adaptation and mitigation

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YaCcjZSsYs&feature=player_embedded]

Go to this Google Earth link for more info.

“Climate Change and The Integrity of Science”

The following letter, signed by 255 members of the National Academy of Science, appears in the current issue of the journal Science. It underlines the severity of the crisis that we are facing, and also the importance of taking action now.  Please take the time to read the letter, and share it!  Thanks to Callan Bentley for making the text available on his blog, MountainBeltway.Wordpress.com.

Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.

Scientific conclusions derive from an understanding of basic laws supported by laboratory experiments, observations of nature, and mathematical and computer modeling. Like all human beings, scientists make mistakes, but the scientific process is designed to find and correct them. This process is inherently adversarial—scientists build reputations and gain recognition not only for supporting conventional wisdom, but even more so for demonstrating that the scientific consensus is wrong and that there is a better explanation. That’s what Galileo, Pasteur, Darwin, and Einstein did. But when some conclusions have been thoroughly and deeply tested, questioned, and examined, they gain the status of “well-established theories” and are often spoken of as “facts.”

For instance, there is compelling scientific evidence that our planet is about 4.5 billion years old (the theory of the origin of Earth), that our universe was born from a single event about 14 billion years ago (the Big Bang theory), and that today’s organisms evolved from ones living in the past (the theory of evolution). Even as these are overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, fame still awaits anyone who could show these theories to be wrong. Climate change now falls into this category: There is compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend.

Many recent assaults on climate science and, more disturbingly, on climate scientists by climate change deniers are typically driven by special interests or dogma, not by an honest effort to provide an alternative theory that credibly satisfies the evidence. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other scientific assessments of climate change, which involve thousands of scientists producing massive and comprehensive reports, have, quite expectedly and normally, made some mistakes. When errors are pointed out, they are corrected. But there is nothing remotely identified in the recent events that changes the fundamental conclusions about climate change:

(i) The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.

(ii) Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

(iii) Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth’s climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.

(iv) Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.

(v) The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more.

Much more can be, and has been, said by the world’s scientific societies, national academies, and individuals, but these conclusions should be enough to indicate why scientists are concerned about what future generations will face from business-as-usual practices. We urge our policy-makers and the public to move forward immediately to address the causes of climate change, including the unrestrained burning of fossil fuels.

We also call for an end to McCarthy-like threats of criminal prosecution against our colleagues based on innuendo and guilt by association, the harassment of scientists by politicians seeking distractions to avoid taking action, and the outright lies being spread about them. Society has two choices: We can ignore the science and hide our heads in the sand and hope we are lucky, or we can act in the public interest to reduce the threat of global climate change quickly and substantively. The good news is that smart and effective actions are possible. But delay must not be an option.

P. H. Gleick,* R. M. Adams, R. M. Amasino, E. Anders, D. J. Anderson, W. W. Anderson, L. E. Anselin, M. K. Arroyo, B. Asfaw, F. J. Ayala, A. Bax, A. J. Bebbington, G. Bell, M. V. L. Bennett, J. L. Bennetzen, M. R. Berenbaum, O. B. Berlin, P. J. Bjorkman, E. Blackburn, J. E. Blamont, M. R. Botchan, J. S. Boyer, E. A. Boyle, D. Branton, S. P. Briggs, W. R. Briggs, W. J. Brill, R. J. Britten, W. S. Broecker, J. H. Brown, P. O. Brown, A. T. Brunger, J. Cairns, Jr., D. E. Canfield, S. R. Carpenter, J. C. Carrington, A. R. Cashmore, J. C. Castilla, A. Cazenave, F. S. Chapin, III, A. J. Ciechanover, D. E. Clapham, W. C. Clark, R. N. Clayton, M. D. Coe, E. M. Conwell, E. B. Cowling, R. M Cowling, C. S. Cox, R. B. Croteau, D. M. Crothers, P. J. Crutzen, G. C. Daily, G. B. Dalrymple, J. L. Dangl, S. A. Darst, D. R. Davies, M. B. Davis, P. V. de Camilli, C. Dean, R. S. Defries, J. Deisenhofer, D. P. Delmer, E. F. Delong, D. J. Derosier, T. O. Diener, R. Dirzo, J. E. Dixon, M. J. Donoghue, R. F. Doolittle, T. Dunne, P. R. Ehrlich, S. N. Eisenstadt, T. Eisner, K. A. Emanuel, S. W. Englander, W. G. Ernst, P. G. Falkowski, G. Feher, J. A. Ferejohn, A. Fersht, E. H. Fischer, R. Fischer, K. V. Flannery, J. Frank, P. A. Frey, I. Fridovich, C. Frieden, D. J. Futuyma, W. R. Gardner, C. J. R. Garrett, W. Gilbert, R. B. Goldberg, W. H. Goodenough, C. S. Goodman, M. Goodman, P. Greengard, S. Hake, G. Hammel, S. Hanson, S. C. Harrison, S. R. Hart, D. L. Hartl, R. Haselkorn, K. Hawkes, J. M. Hayes, B. Hille, T. Hökfelt, J. S. House, M. Hout, D. M. Hunten, I. A. Izquierdo, A. T. Jagendorf, D. H. Janzen, R. Jeanloz, C. S. Jencks, W. A. Jury, H. R. Kaback, T. Kailath, P. Kay, S. A. Kay, D. Kennedy, A. Kerr, R. C. Kessler, G. S. Khush, S. W. Kieffer, P. V. Kirch, K. Kirk, M. G. Kivelson, J. P. Klinman, A. Klug, L. Knopoff, H. Kornberg, J. E. Kutzbach, J. C. Lagarias, K. Lambeck, A. Landy, C. H. Langmuir, B. A. Larkins, X. T. Le Pichon, R. E. Lenski, E. B. Leopold, S. A. Levin, M. Levitt, G. E. Likens, J. Lippincott-Schwartz, L. Lorand, C. O. Lovejoy, M. Lynch, A. L. Mabogunje, T. F. Malone, S. Manabe, J. Marcus, D. S. Massey, J. C. McWilliams, E. Medina, H. J. Melosh, D. J. Meltzer, C. D. Michener, E. L. Miles, H. A. Mooney, P. B. Moore, F. M. M. Morel, E. S. Mosley-Thompson, B. Moss, W. H. Munk, N. Myers, G. B. Nair, J. Nathans, E. W. Nester, R. A. Nicoll, R. P. Novick, J. F. O’Connell, P. E. Olsen, N. D. Opdyke, G. F. Oster, E. Ostrom, N. R. Pace, R. T. Paine, R. D. Palmiter, J. Pedlosky, G. A. Petsko, G. H. Pettengill, S. G. Philander, D. R. Piperno, T. D. Pollard, P. B. Price, Jr., P. A. Reichard, B. F. Reskin, R. E. Ricklefs, R. L. Rivest, J. D. Roberts, A. K. Romney, M. G. Rossmann, D. W. Russell, W. J. Rutter, J. A. Sabloff, R. Z. Sagdeev, M. D. Sahlins, A. Salmond, J. R. Sanes, R. Schekman, J. Schellnhuber, D. W. Schindler, J. Schmitt, S. H. Schneider, V. L. Schramm, R. R. Sederoff, C. J. Shatz, F. Sherman, R. L. Sidman, K. Sieh, E. L. Simons, B. H. Singer, M. F. Singer, B. Skyrms, N. H. Sleep, B. D. Smith, S. H. Snyder, R. R. Sokal, C. S. Spencer, T. A. Steitz, K. B. Strier, T. C. Südhof, S. S. Taylor, J. Terborgh, D. H. Thomas, L. G. Thompson, R. T. TJian, M. G. Turner, S. Uyeda, J. W. Valentine, J. S. Valentine, J. L. van Etten, K. E. van Holde, M. Vaughan, S. Verba, P. H. von Hippel, D. B. Wake, A. Walker, J. E. Walker, E. B. Watson, P. J. Watson, D. Weigel, S. R. Wessler, M. J. West-Eberhard, T. D. White, W. J. Wilson, R. V. Wolfenden, J. A. Wood, G. M. Woodwell, H. E. Wright, Jr., C. Wu, C. Wunsch, M. L. Zoback

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: petergleick@pacinst.org

To read this article in journal Science, click here (subscription required).

Operation Rock the Boat, and Other Climate Change News

What is going on in the climate change world these days?  I did some surfing and found some of the most interesting postings – hope you enjoy!

Although April Fool’s Day was last week, this April 1st posting from Real Climate is worth reading.  It discusses the “consensus view” of climate scientists that the Northern Hemisphere will be warming as spring approaches, as well as the response – including “scientific diagrams” –  of skeptic and author “Micheal Crikey”.  And don’t miss the comments section!

A “consensus view” amongst climate scientists holds that the Northern Hemisphere will be warming this month, as spring is coming. This is thought to be due to the Earth’s orbit around the sun and the inclination of the Earth’s axis, tilting the Northern Hemisphere progressively towards the sun throughout March and April and increasing the amount of solar radiation received at northern latitudes.

In a new novel, State of Euphoria, bestselling author Michael Crikey uncovers major flaws in this theory and warns against false hopes for the arrival of spring.

This is not merely fiction: Crikey underpins his thesis with numerous scientific diagrams. He presents measurements from over a dozen weather stations in the Northern Hemisphere where temperatures show a cooling trend in March. He further cites scientific results which show that in some places, snow and ice have increased in the past weeks, counter to climatologists’ claims that they should be melting away in the spring sun. He further argues that even the average temperature of the Northern Hemisphere has not increased steadily; during one week of March, it showed a slight cooling despite the increase in solar radiation.

“This casts a grave shadow of doubt on the theory of the seasons”, says Crikey…Click here to read the full article at Real Climate.

From Climate Progress: An Insider’s View of Climate Science, Politics, and Solutions, Joe Romm’s posting on The War Against Carbon Starts Now is the first in a new series Romm is launching about the kind of serious action on decreasing global warming emissions that people can push for at a local and state/provincial level — and even at a national and global level — without waiting for politicians. Part 1 discusses how the Carbon War Room (CWR) is starting to focus on lowering the carbon footprint of the worldwide shipping industry. The Carbon War Room is an exciting nonprofit initiative founded by Sir Richard Branson and several other world-class business leaders to harness “the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change”. The CWR’s operational approach, Romm writes, is to:

“bring together successful entrepreneurs in collaboration with the most respected institutions, scientists, national security experts, and business leaders to implement the change required to avoid catastrophic climate change.”

The Carbon War Room has “identified 25 battles across 7 theaters that are material to winning the war against climate change. Each battle accounts for over 1 billion tons (or more than 2%) of global anthropogenic CO2e emissions annually.”   The figure above represents CWR’s “Theaters and Battles,” with filled in green circles representing an “Op in Progress” and the dotted circles a developing Op.  For instance, one area CWR has already start on is shipping, a too-neglected sector that has huge emissions and but only medium-sized market barriers, which they are addressing with Operation Rock The Boat“… Click here to read the full story at Climate Progress.org.

From Colin  Beavan, AKA “No Impact Man”, some thoughts on environmentalism 2.0:

1. Happier planet = happier people.

2. You make a difference.

3. Our culture is broken.

4. The personal is political.

5. Economic growth ≠ Life satisfaction growth.

6. Jobs are paramount but we should work to make our planetary home better not worse.

7. The concept of zero sum game is for people with zero sum brains.

8. There is a better, happier system out there.

9. If thine eyes (or thine economic system) offends thee, pluck them (or it) out.

10. It’s not about having less. It’s about having more. The question is: more of what?

Go to NoImpactMan.typepad.com to read the complete list.

And for a visual, here’s “60 Seconds of Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Actual Volume of Gas in Real Time”. For more images of our global warming emissions, check out “Carbon Quilt: Making Sense of the World’s Carbon Footprint” (thanks to Laurie for the link!).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1vbtnExw_g&feature=player_embedded]

A “Smorgasbord” for Meatless Monday

I’ve mentioned “Meatless Mondays” before, a campaign to increase people’s health and decrease their carbon footprint at the same time.  As today is Monday, and I have a lot of things on my “plate”, I have a smorgasbord of offerings today for readers rather than my own posting. Hope you enjoy them, and have a great day!

Earth Hour is 8:30 pm., Saturday March 27, 2010.

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future. Click here to go to EarthHour.org to find out more and pledge your support.

Hurdle Passed to Create North America’s Largest Urban Farm in Richmond, B.C. (from 100MileDiet.org)

Two years ago it seemed hopeless; only one city councillor, pioneer farmer descendent Harlold Steves, voted to save the 136-acre parcel in the heart of urban Richmond, B.C., for agricultural purposes. Thanks to the dogged work of the Garden City Lands Coalition, two major hurdles have been passed, moving them toward their vision of creating the largest urban farm in North America. It would include a teaching centre, food bank and local-foods restaurant, covering all the economic and cultural bases in the movement to spread good food to everyone. Here’s how the battle played….click on 100MileDiet.org for more.

An upside-down winter: coldest in 25 years in U.S., warmest on record in Canada.”  from “Uber-meteorologist” Dr. Jeff Masters, founder of the Weather Underground:

The U.S. just experienced its coldest winter in 25 years, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The winter period December – February was the 18th coldest winter in the contiguous U.S. over the past 115 years, and the coldest since 1984 – 1985. It was also a wet winter, ranking 19th wettest…The only state much above average was Maine, which had its 3rd warmest winter. As I discussed earlier this week, this winter’s cold weather over the U.S. is largely due to the Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation, which assumed its most extreme negative configuration since record keeping began in 1950. El Niño helped keep things cool from Texas to the Southeastern U.S., as well….Canada had its warmest winter on record, 4.0°C (7.2°F) above average, according to Environment Canada. The previous record was 3.9°C above average, set in 2005-2006. Canada also experienced its driest winter on record this year, with precipitation 22.0% below normal…David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada, warned of potential “horrific” water shortages, insect infestations, and wildfires this summer due to the warm, dry winter. Phillips blamed the warm winter weather on El Niño and the severe loss of arctic sea ice last fall. The winter season in Canada has warmed, on average, by 2.5°C (4.5°F) over the past 63 years...Click here to read the entire post, and see the weather charts, at Masters’ WunderBlog.

And a video, Wanted: David and Charles Koch, Climate Criminals, via Creative Greenius, who says:

If you think those of us fighting climate change are going to go easy on the guilty criminals who destroy our atmosphere for profit… Think again.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHm_8Qw_qSs]

Warmest, Driest Canadian Winter on Record is “Beyond Shocking”

The winter of 2009/2010 was the warmest, dryest one on the record books.  The national average temperature for this past winter was 4 degrees above normal, with some parts of Nunavut and Quebec more than 6 degrees above normal.  David Phillips, a senior Environment Canada climatologist, was recently quoted, saying:

It’s beyond shocking…”  Records have been shattered from “coast to coast to coast…It is truly a remarkable situation,” says Phillips, noting that he’s seen nothing like it in his 40 years of weather watching.

Phillips warned that “the winter than wasn’t” may have set the stage for potentially “horrific” water shortages, insect infestations and wildfires this summer.

Environment Canada’s report on this winter says the long-term record shows Canada’s climate has changed, most markedly in the winter, which has warmed 2.5 C over the last 63 years. The summary states:

The temperature trend graph shows that winter temperatures have remained at or above normal since 1997. The red dashed line indicates winter temperatures have warmed over the last 63 years by 2.5°C. The winter season shows the greatest warming of any season, but all seasons have shown a warming trend since 1948.

Meanwhile, the shortage of essential supplies like gasoline and building materials in northern remote communities due to the early melting of winter roads is making headlines.  Instead of lasting 3 months, as used to be the norm, this winter the ice roads in northern Manitoba were open for only 6 weeks. The cost of flying in supplies is prohibitive, and needs to be added to the growing list of climate change-related expenses that Canadians are going to be paying for, thanks to our government’s inaction on climate change.  As Dr. Richard Gemmon has said “If you think mitigated climate change is expensive, try unmitigated.”

Meanwhile, on CBC’s “The National” last night, the balmy temperatures were discussed without one mention of climate change – now that is really shocking!

Here’s a clip of David Suzuki, Canadian scientist and environmentalist extraordinaire, discussing the media’s coverage of climate change.  Unfortunately, it is just as accurate today as it was when this video was made in 2006:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NefFxNPmVi8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]