Tag Archives: Climate
Hot Enough For You?
August was the first time in more than ten years that the temperature in Ottawa didn’t once hit 30 degrees Celsius. Now, a week into September, we have already set heat records for the month. As I am typing this the humidex, the measurement of what it feels like as opposed to the actual temperature, […]
Heat? What Heat?
As North America and Europe are sweltering with record temperatures and an increased number of forest fires, I’ve been thinking about the next ice age. The one that didn’t happen. Back in the early 1970s climate scientists were concerned that volatile weather patterns were a harbinger of another ice age like the one that froze […]
Sometimes You Are Wrong
So am I. I was an early adopter of cloth bags for my groceries. I felt virtuous in refusing plastic. I was doing my small part to protect our environment. Turns out I shoudl have stuck with plastic if I wanted to help the environment. That doesn’t make sense to me, but who am I […]
First Hand Experience
Four years ago I wrote a post I called “Climate Change For Dummies,” my thoughts on environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio’s hysterical reaction to living through a Chinook, a climate phenomenon I only knew from books. This week though I was in Calgary, Alberta, and more or less experienced a Chinook. I say more or less […]
Emergency Preparedness
The boy cried wolf. Everyone got excited. Then there was no wolf. Many people know that fable and the message it brings. And you can immediately see how it applies to the present-day climate change debate. But there’s more to it than that. I saw a news headline a couple of weeks back that 11,000 […]
First Snow
Woke up to this scene Wednesday morning. A smattering of snow had fallen overnight. I knew it was a possibility at this time of year, but must admit I hadn’t been checking the forecast, so it took me a little by surprise. I expected it all to melt during the day, but some of it […]
Capitalism and Climate Change
They came out by the thousands, the tens of thousands and the hundreds of thousands. What happens next? Nothing. Friday they rallied in cities across the globe calling in leaders to do more to address the issue of climate change. Many teenagers took, or were given, the day off school to let their voices be […]
Confronting Climate Change
Whatever happened to the out of control wildfires in the Brazilian rain forest? Six weeks ago, they were at the forefront of the daily news. I just realized though that it has been a month since I heard them mentioned. I guess the situation is under control, temporarily anyway. You can expect lots of talk […]
Forty Degrees of Separation
I turned on Ottawa radio yesterday (online of course), looking for Canadian news. What struck me most though was the weather. In Ottawa it is still winter. Morning temperature was minus 21 Celsius – and that isn’t taking the wind chill into account. It felt a lot colder than that to those leaving for their […]
Climate Change Secret
It’s quite pleasant in Ottawa today, especially if you like snow. Admittedly, if you have to drive in the stuff you might be less than thrilled at the white stuff falling from the sky, causing problems for your morning commute. Overnight low was minus three (all temperatures in this post are Celsius. For Fahrenheit conversion […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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