01-01 Why Quirky
Climate winners or losers? Drought or desalination? Animals dying or thriving? Polar bears are climate losers and grey whales are climate winners. A little quirky? Polar bears are animals that hunts seals on the Arctic ocean ice sheets. But those ice sheets are melting and the polar bear in many areas will simply disappear. Grey…
01-02 The Great Lakes
Higher water levels will drive trade and tourism. But weather projections are quirky. It was 1958 and the beginning of my first job as a lubrication engineer, working from Imperial Oil’s Hamilton office. My initial instructions were to call once a week on the “ship’s chandler” in Port Colborne, next to the Welland Canal.This is…
01-03 Trees and Bats
Plant trees and save the world. Good for bats, jaguars, pandas and deer.Who would believe planting trees in Fiji would help preserve Flying Fruit bats. I have seen them up close and they have wing spans of three feet and weigh up to three pounds. And the concern amongst the population was that so many…
01-04 Malta
20% of the world is becoming desert-like. There is Malta, and a third of the US. The aerial photo of the harbour in Valletta on the island of Malta shows the presence of cruise ships. Malta and the sister island, Gozo, are hot tourist destinations. But when my wife and I were there in 1982,…
01-05 Meat without Meat
A billion cows do not pass “eau de toilette”. How about fake meat? “Mom, Ian farted. That’s okay. But it’s nicer to say, Ian passed wind.” A lesson at age eight playing with my kid brother.Well, speaking of “passing wind” we have a billion cows around the world sending methane into the atmosphere. Now, that’s…
01-06 California Fires
California is not the only place on fire. Fires are fueling the demand for solar-battery systems. My extended family in California were impacted by power outages in 2019. A mother travelled to live with her daughter. Others had to do their cooking on a barbeque. Food spoiled. A total mess. And the question they were…
01-07 The Atoll Nations
If the Marshall Islands are abandoned because of rising oceans and shortages of fresh water, millions will want to move to Australia. My memories of the Marshall and Solomon Islands are from old WW2 movies, showing US troops driving Japanese forces off the Islands and back to their homeland. Todays drama is climate change and…
01-08 Climate Politics
Politics will be more important in building support for climate action than understanding the technology. Climate change is techy and quirky. Calling a package of government tax reform measures a “bag of snakes” was a one-liner that was picked up by all the newspapers, television and radio stations across Canada in 1983. It was more…
01-09 The Middle East
The River Jordan, where Christ was baptized, is a sewer. Desalination will save the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. Thinking of deserts and oil? Well that’s the Middle East. The map gives a pretty good picture of all the nations in the area. And, they are all focused on climate change.All desert areas…
01-10 Specie Loss
Every period in history characterized by climate change has experienced massive specie loss. Millions of species have come and gone. It was a visit on a cruise ship to the Antarctic in 2009 that we were boarded by seven scientists from the Arctowski Polish Research station. They were geologists and biologist, and all spoke English….
01-13 Hemp
Hemp is one of the fastest growing crops in the world and does not require fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. It is a better CO2 sink than trees or plants. And there are thousands of applications from foods, medicines and clothing to concrete for building homes. It was a surprise during a visit to China in…
01-32 Insurance
Extreme weather means homeowners will not be able to get property insurance in vulnerable areas of the world, like the US. You are a homeowner in California and your fire insurance premium has jumped from $1500 to $6500. Or, you are a homeowner in Florida and your flood insurance has gone from $2000 to $8000….
01-33 Japan
Japan has announced a goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. A similar goal has been set by Britain, Canada and the EU. Achievable in Japan because it is a society that respects direction from its government. The newly appointed Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihidi Suga, announced a new government policy associated with climate change….
01-34 Single-Use Plastics
It looks like so many initiatives to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels will be neutralized by fossil fuels producing plastics. It is back in 1963 and I am taking a course in Marketing for a Masters degree in Business Administration. We were examining a glass bottle of Coca Cola that sold at your corner…