… seriously. 26 degrees in MARCH???

Look, I know that I go on and on about the weather – I am a Canadian, after all – but is this not just a wee bit strange?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

… climate change, robo-calls, dingoes and Oscars edition…

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Sugar bushes in Ontario and Quebec have tapped their trees weeks early this year due to the non-winter that we have been experiencing in this part of the world. Tapping in February hasn’t happened in decades. The sugar bush owners are pretty happy about this, yet I cannot help but wonder about the longer term impacts on our ecosystems.

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The family and I made it onto the Rideau Canal twice this winter. Only 38 days of the longest skating rink in the world this year. I wonder if we won’t see a year sometime soon when the Canal won’t open to skating at all!

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So the EU countries stopped short of condemning tar sand oil as “dirtier” than petroleum from other sources. I don’t know about this decision. A “dirty” label really would have been only symbolic and wouldn’t impact policies as Canada exports very little of its crude to the EU..

BRUSSELS — Years of lobbying over European Union rules that would label fuel from tar sands as more polluting than fuels from other sources reached a stalemate Thursday when a committee of technical experts failed to agree on the draft.

The European Commission, the Union’s executive branch, and many environmentalists say the “dirty” label is necessary to help fuel buyers choose the least carbon-intensive energy forms and help to curb global warming.

Canada, home to vast crude reserves most of which are in the form known as tar sands or oil sands, has challenged the E.U. law, saying it is discriminatory and could damage trade ties.

The vote Thursday at a meeting of technical experts, which was held behind closed doors, failed to reach a qualified majority under the Union’s voting system, which weights voting to reflect the populations of E.U. member states. The European climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, claimed victory in averting a “no” vote. “Now our proposal will go to ministers, and I hope governments will realize that unconventional fuels of course need to account for their considerably higher emissions through separate values,” she said in a statement.

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Robo-call-gate. Will it stick? J’en doute.

This is the Teflon government, don’t forget. And also the government that thinks it is A-OK to get tough on crime. Unless said crime is election fraud. Then it’s soft-as-a-kitten on crime.

Hypocrites.

Yeah, yeah, I know that nothing has been proven yet re: a direct connection to the CPC, but c’mon! How many dots does it take to make a line? Senior staff were likely blissfully unaware of what was happening, but you can bet your patootie that someone in a position of decision-making within the party did know the scoop. And approved it!

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No! Not the dingoes again!

CANBERRA — An inquest started hearing new evidence on Friday into the 1980 death of baby Azaria Chamberlain. It’s a case that has haunted Australia for decades, drawing international attention after her parents said she had been killed by a dingo, or wild dog.

The inquest into baby Azaria’s death in the Australian outback of baby Azaria, the fourth such inquest since the infant disappeared, began in Darwin Magistrates Court in the Northern Territory in response to new information provided by the baby’s parents.

The evidence concerns several dingo attacks on infants and young children since Azaria’s death. Her parents expect the court to declare officially that Azaria was killed by a dingo, rather than by her mother, a lawyer representing parents Lindy and Michael Chamberlain said.

No word on whether Meryl Streep will be asked to do a sequel.

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And it looks like dingoes of the two-legged variety are squaring off big-time Downunder. The prize? The office of President! When it comes to political infighting, we Canucks have nothing to match this battle royale!

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Oscars? Meh. You know what I think about award shows. I saw Moneyball. Good flick.

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The Noravirus has been making its rounds in O-Town. I think that is what my eldest had the other day. Brutal little bug.  Ottawa Public Health recommends the following:

At this time of year, increased cases of Noravirus circulate in the community and can affect schools, hospitals, day care centres and long term care facilities, and anywhere groups of people gather. To avoid infection with Norovirus, we recommend the following:

• Wash your hands frequently
• Stay home from school or work if you are ill
• Avoid visiting people in hospital or long-term care homes when ill

If you think you have Norovirus, the following will help you and help prevent others from getting sick with Norovirus:

• Stay home and rest for at least 24 hours after your vomiting/diarrhea have resolved and you feel well
• Do not prepare or handle food that will be eaten by others

Good advice.

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Duh-o! Winter is coming!

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Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Funny cartoon…

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

And, at face value, it shows quite vividly what fine company Canada keeps on this file.

But, do use a bit of caution when interpreting this map literally. I haven’t been able to track down the report from whence this came so am unable to assess the robustness of the methodology used to reach these conclusions.

But they do seem to be in line with my thinking on the subject.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

UPDATE – Yes, I should have included a table of historical values for reference sake. Too lazy this morning.Thanks to @RunnertheFirst for pointing this out… please see the bottom of this post.

The average daily maximum was 17.3 C.

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… is a buncha crap, should consider this forecast for Inuvik.

Yes, this is “weather” as opposed to “climate”. I know the concepts and terminology very well…. but if these patterns persist, then there will be some major social, economic and biological upheavals in the North.

And I don’t believe we or any other polar nation is prepared for that.

Inuvik average temps – 1971 – 2000

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

The old adage, actions speak louder than words has never been more applicable than to the news that the CPC is shutting down the climate change research station off Ellesmere Island.

It is common knowledge that the Harperites and their core supporters (read: he oil and gas industry, Sarah Palin) do not accept the science that – to any intelligent individual – points to overwhelming evidence that the planet is warming up and that human activities have and are contributing to this.

It’s quite clear we have a government that says they believe this is an issue but really don’t care about it.  Andrew Weaver, climatologist at the University of Victoria

But the minority government had yet to do anything to show this view. Yes, lots of inaction but not a lot of action. This withdrawal of research funding tells me three things:

1) Any hope that the Cons would change their position on climate change is as dead as the Leafs’ playoff hopes.
2) We should expect more of this type of the decision in the future.
3) The Cons much vaunted ballyhooing about being a solid supporter of the scientific community is a bunch of crap.

To Iggy and Jack : please merge your parties, force an election and kick these cowboys all the way back to Calgary!!!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Sometimes a child’s eyes is the best lens through which we can simplify complex issues.

Take my youngest daughter, for instance. Yesterday, and unprovoked, she informed her Mom and I that she wanted a “lot” of ice cubes to put outside.

Why?

For the polar bears.

“Because their ice is melting and they are going to drown in the water”.

Nice, eh?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I thought I would put up a new post in response to this question posed by Doug Newton. This is a fair question that deserves some measure of response. Thanks for the question and thanks to Thorin as well.

Global warming / climate change – whatever. The important thing to note is that the Earth is undergoing some pretty dramatic changes as I write these words.

What more pressing ecological changes are there – aside from a change of a few degrees?

Absolutely none. Zero, Zilch. Why? Because every other environmental variable will change as a result of these few degrees.

And this is not a myth. We see it now in Ontario in the extreme weather patterns we have experienced the past few years. They are seeing it in the north as permafrost melts (read a story over the weekend about the booming biz in mammoth bones in Siberia as the frost melts and gives up its secrets!). It is being felt in Australia as massive brush fires are an annual occurrence. And they are seeing it in the SW United States as water is fast becoming a scarce commodity.

Which brings me to another point relating to the geopolitical and economic ramifications of climate change. As the weather patterns continue to shift and water and food supplies are impacted, it makes sense that sooner or later some of these impacted nations are going to get desperate.

One of the nations is Ontario’s – and Canada’s – neighbour to the south. And as someone stated in a presentation given to a group of us in Moncton last week, when the desperation kicks in, Canada has a great big target right in the middle of its forehead.

Yes, there are more issues in the Ontario election aside from global warming (duplication in the education systems, for example), but the climate crisis trumps all.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario