February 9, 2011

A great guide to keep in your wallet and have with you when you grocery shop:

February 8, 2011

Here is a new site I have recently discovered, and by recently I mean today!

The New Animalist

Check out the latest post on it entitled "Monkeys on a Plane" it is absolutely horrific! Even more sad that they are being brought to my hometown of Montreal! Something should definitely be done.

"Air Canada was in the business of shipping baby monkeys from breeding farms in China to biomedical labs in Canada."

"many people were shocked to learn that painful, invasive research is conducted on monkeys in Canadian labs every day–in this case, just a short drive west from our most cosmopolitan and sophisticated city, Montreal."

Spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told CBC that Air Canada is obliged by law to accept monkeys as cargo.

“As a public carrier,” he says, “Air Canada can only refuse carriage in very limited situations. We cannot by law refuse the carriage of animals for the sole reason that they could ultimately be destined to a laboratory or for research. We must comply with this 1998 Canadian Transportation Agency [CTA] ruling.”

Please read the full article and check out the rest of the site focused on human/animal interactions

January 30, 2011

This past Thursday night I was welcomed by a little creature of the night. A bat. In my bedroom.
Yes my first reaction was to scream, run out of my room and shut the door on it, but after getting help to set it free again and with a couple days of clarity and reflection I have come to realise something.
Why was it that I was so frightened by a bat entering my room? Would I have been just as startled if I was camping, sitting around a fire at night and noticing a bat flying above in the trees? No, I probably wouldn't have. The reason why, is because my bedroom is my environment and when you go camping, you have entered 'wilderness'- it is nature's territory whereas my bedroom is my, human, man-made territory. Now, without getting into an entirely different discussion about whether or not camping-sites, and wilderness in general, is man-made, let me continue. 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4336696399_599414418e.jpg

Humans have made their cities so controled and sectioned off from 'wilderness' that we forget that we are living in a world full of wilderness. From ladybugs and ants to squirrels, birds and yes, even bats. We forget that while we have invaded what once used to be uninhabited land (many, many years ago), we also forget that nature still exists all around us. We forget so much that when it pops up on your curtain rod and stares you in the face you get scared and run away.

This is not good. We need to learn to co-exist with these creatures. We all share the same environment and while we each may invade the other's space, humans on average do a lot more harm to nature than nature to humans. And so, we need to respect nature and forgive it for getting occasionally lost and entering our bedrooms. Yes there are sanitary reason to get the bat back outside, but there are humane ways and understanding ways. And so, the next time there is a bat in your room, remember it is part of nature and not just an intruder in your space.

#2 January 22, 2011

Please watch this video, it's important you know what is happening to the fish in our oceans

Here is an excellent blog post regarding this issue: http://kreativlondon.blogspot.com/p/earth-kreativ.html

Do not ignore this issue

January 22, 2011

We all know sites like Craigslist and Kijiji exist, so it was about time someone made a site like that with an environmental twist. And that site is The Freecycle Network.
The basic premise is people exchanging things they no longer need between each other rather than just throwing the item out.

"By giving freely with no strings attached, members of The Freecycle Network help instill a sense of generosity of spirit as they strengthen local community ties and promote environmental sustainability and reuse. People from all walks of life have joined together to turn trash into treasure"

One such example of what you can do, making something out of nothing
http://s3.amazonaws.com/materialicious2/images/tin-can-lids-turn-trash-into-treasure-m.jpg?1248821708

Thanks to people's generosity and willingness to participate, the site claims to keep 500 tons of garbage a day out of landfills. That's pretty incredible.

I have yet to try it out, but keep your eye on it, maybe you'll find that kitchen faucet or desk drawer you've always been looking for! And even if you never go on this site in your life, the basic principle that lies behind it can be adopted - instead of throwing out that old pair of jeans, donate it to Salvation Army, or give it to a friend : )

January 20, 2011

Happy New Year Everyone!

I appologize for the haitus. Exams were long, too long, and I have finally managed to somewhat settle into my new semester after a wonderful break.

And what's better for a new-year themed post than a little look at how 2010 did environmentally. An article on the BBC news website today reveals that 2010 was the warmest year on record... hmm....

It also says that "Other indications of 2010 warmth flagged up by the WMO include the lowest extent of sea-ice cover in the Arctic since the satellite record began"

What's more, the article lists a couple extreme weather events in 2010:

• the summer heatwave in Russia
• severe monsoon-related floods in Pakistan
• the worst Amazon drought in recent memory.

"Agencies including the UK Met Office suggest 2011 is likely to be cooler on average than 2010, as La Nina conditions dominate."

Now with this in mind (and I encourage you to read the article quickly to be properly informed), I suggest that all of you add at least one New Year's resolution to your list that involves bettering your behaviour toward the environment, be it reading to become more informed, composting, or offsetting your carbon footprint by planting trees.

My resolution will be to update this blog as much as possible and to not just walk past litter on the street, but rather, pick it up and throw it out.

December 19, 2010

This diagram shows the effects of climate change - more specifically, what will happen as the earth reaches a global average temperature increase of  X degrees celcius. It also shows the associated CO2 concentration in the atmosphere (Currently we are at a concentration of around 380 parts per million).

 

Let me draw your attention to a few changes I think are quite eye-opening and alarming.

1) With an average temperature increase of 2 degrees celcius it will bring about the "irreversible melting of the Greenland ice sheet". 

2) "Entire regions experience major decline in crop yields" at an increase of just over 4 degrees celcius in the global average temperature.

3) "Increasing risk of abrupt, largescale shifts in the climate system (e.g. collapse of the Atlantic Thermohaline circulation and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet)" with an increase of 3 degrees celcius and more. The Atlantic Thermohaline circulation is a deep water ocean current that circulates throughout the entire world, and the purpose of it is that it transports cooler water from the poles to warmer waters and then the warmer water up towards the poles. It begins in the North Pole above the Atlantic Ocean and because of this circulation, Europe is approximately 8-10 degrees warmer than if this circulation did not exist. It is with the formation of ice in the arctic (which then creates very salty and dense water surface water - which is actually denser than the water below it - and so the surface water and deeper water change place) that this circulation begins, and so with less ice in the arctic, this circulation will become weaker and eventually stop.
If you've seen the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow' this is the premise it lies on (however exaggerated the movie is).