Global Warming: Climate change or climate instability quickens its pace

Many people say that a bit of change is always good, so we won’t get stuck in a rut, eat the same leftover casserole for a week or walk around in bell bottoms for the rest of our lives.

I agree, of course (I’ve got short legs and no behind so bells don’t fit right), even when it comes to some aspects of the earth's climate, but the pace of climate change over the last number of years concerns me.

As well, most scientists are concerned about the quickening pace of climate change, especially in the Arctic, according to a new summary of the most recent research. [Link to The London Free Press, April 25]

Earlier predictions now appear too conservative, except perhaps to the Canadian Federal Conservative government whose mantra is - economic limits and environmental concerns are for sissies and grandmas.

“The dramatic impacts on the Arctic that are now being observed challenge the magnitude of the predicted impacts of climate change at both Arctic and global levels,” says the report. The reduction in Arctic ice cover has “massively accelerated” since 2005.

Our Market First or Business As Usual economic philosophy will lead to our bankruptcy.


["I bet my pants won't get wet today, Mom!"]

Bell bottoms out - flood pants in.

[Visit Four Mugs for The Last Days of Driving free book give-away]

ABC-DEFinitely Gross: Things parents don’t tell their kids about the environment

It’s official: There are four things causing an increase in the cost and demand for food grains and for people who have been out of town for awhile I’ve listed them below:

1. Drought caused extensive damage to crop yields in some areas of the world.

2. The world’s appetite for meat is increasing as economies grow and those chickens, cows and pigs have to be fed a lot of grain in order to get them ready for slaughter.

3. Some grain crops are being converted to fuels.

4. Traders or speculators in the stock market are pushing prices of grain commodities higher.


The average North American parent is much at fault. The size of their children, family van or pickup truck has never been greater.

But you won’t often hear Dad or Mom say that everybody in the family is going to have to cut back a wee bit as they drive across town to soccer practice or down the highway to visit Grandma’s house with a big bag of Bucky’s burgers on their lap.

Though many parents are silent I have a few questions:

Would prices or demand for grain (and food stuffs) stabilize or decrease if we ate 50 per cent less meat than we do now and left the car in the lane way 50 per cent more often?

And before we actually try the experiment ourselves will we be forced to do so because of even higher prices?

And what will we say to the kids when soccer has to be crossed off the list?

ABC-DEFinitely Gross: The things parents don’t tell their kids about the environment

Many parents know that fuel and food costs are rising, and will continue to rise, but are sticking with Plan A.

Plan A: Consume everything in sight without thought of future generations and don’t think or worry about the natural limits of excessive consumption.

Many parents will never read or pass along the following: About 1960 average global consumption could still be supported by only about 50 per cent of global ecological capacity. However, about 1985, for the first time in human history, average global consumption matched global ecological capacity.

"Since that year we have been living beyond our means, supporting consumption through an increasing ecological deficit." [pg. 253, The Little Green Handbook by Ron Nielsen]


Many parents will never devise a realistic Plan B in order to set an example to their children or the next generation of consumers.

[Visit Live Small & Prosper for a great green summer yard sale idea]

ABC-DEFinitely Gross: Things most parents don’t tell their kids about the environment

After writing about taking three minute showers in The Londoner a fellow on my hockey team razzed me after we stepped off the ice, doffed our gear and headed toward the dressing room shower stall.

“You better be out quick, Harrison,” he badgered.

“No sweat,” I replied, though covered in it.

The showers at the Western Fair arena have showers with automatic timers, about 45 seconds per lukewarm squirt. I used two squirts and stepped out for my towel.

“Hey, Tim. Get moving,” I said, loudly enough for all to hear. “What are you waiting for?”

I’m confident that 95 per cent of all Canadians can take as quick a shower as me, if not faster, and in so doing conserve millions of gallons of precious fresh water per year. And do so without razzing me about it (or my fading hockey skills) at the same time.

Until we invent a small device for the kitchen or bathroom that will clearly show how many liters or gallons of water we use (and often waste each day) parents need to tell their children the importance of water conservation as well as practice it themselves.


"Stop playing around in there. I have to go to the bathroom!"

According to National Geographic magazine “turning off the tap while brushing teeth can save 50 gallons a week. A low-flow showerhead can reduce the annual shower budget by 2,600 gallons or more.” (Feb. 2008)

And if parents with-held a child’s (or their own) cellphone use for one year the household could afford a dual-flush toilet (users opt for full- or half-flush: touch a button to choose) and save up to 10,000 gallons of water per year.

Parents, you’d likely have money left over for a jumbo-pak of toilet paper!

[Tomorrow, visit Four Mugs for other water conservation ideas from National Geographic]