The Gulf Stream has stopped before

One of the likely outcomes of global warming is that the Gulf Stream could stop, thereby dropping temperatures in Britain and Scandinavia. This thermohaline circulation would be shutdown by glaciers melting and thereby desalinating the ocean.

Researchers now claim that they have proof that when the glacial Lake Agassiz burst some 8000 years ago and dumped its fresh waters into the North Atlantic, the circulation of the Atlantic was shut down. Temperatures in Greenland fell by 8C at this time.

Cape Breton labour market study

Here's a short little movie about life for young people on Cape Breton Island from two different perspectives.



If you are an outmigrant from Cape Breton, visit www.capebretonworks.com and complete the survey to help JCI find unique solutions to out-migration and to the skilled labour shortage in the knowledge sector.

Harper Conservatives let us down.

Right now, a major UN summit in Bali has just a few days left to hammer out an agreement on stopping catastrophic climate change. But instead of helping out, Canada is actually sabotaging the talks! On Saturday, experts gave us the global "fossil" award for being the worst country in the world on climate change.

There's still a few days left to save Canada's reputation -- and the climate -- but we need a massive democratic roar to remind our Prime Minister what Canada is all about, and stop him from blocking the world at Bali. Sign the petition now, which will be advertised with the number of signatures in an ad campaign across Canada this week. The goal is to get 25,000 people to sign in the next 3 days -- before the ads run.

Prime Minister Harper's short-sighted, undemocratic and big oil-driven policy on climate change is damaging the world and destroying our image as a good country. We're supposed to be the nice guys, who try to do the right thing in the world.

The vast majority of Canadians are hopping mad on this issue -- we can win this. We just need to show Harper how serious we are that he change course. Sign up now and forward this email to everyone you know - we've got just 3 days to hit 25,000 signatures!

Thanks for your help!

PS - Here are links to some more info on this:

David Suzuki (the Nature of Things) calls the government's spin on climate change "humiliating" and "ludicrous" - www.thestar.com

The former editor-in-chief of CBC news discusses the damage done by Canada's climate policy to our international reputation - www.cbc.ca/news/

Mink - the inside story

Have you ever wondered what happens to a mink once it's fur has gone to make something fashionable?

This job posting (May 11, 2007 - the link may expire) for an "Environmental Researcher" may give you a clue:

"Spec Environmental Solutions Inc. (SPEC) belongs to the Spectacle Lake group of companies located in Concession, Digby Co., NS. SPEC operates a commercial composting site serving the local mink farming industry by processing organic waste by-products from approx. 1,000,000 mink per year."

Three things strike me about this. First is the huge number of animals. Second is the fact that Spectacle Lake seem to make no mention of this side of their business on their website. Third, they use their construction company to 'hide' the trucking of the carcases:

"Spectacle Lake Concrete & Excavating Limited does all the trucking and marketing for the composting facility."

I guess it's not something they are not proud of?


technorati tags: animal rights, fur, fur farming, Nova Scotia

Our Earth as Art

When Google Maps created their new feature, My Maps, I wonder if they were expecting the creativity people would have in finding applications for it. One good example is Our Earth as Art, a selection of satellite photographs of our planet. Each one is beautiful in its own right, often in a very abstract sense, and is accompanied by text explaining what we are seeing. In many cases it tells a horror story of the suffering we are causing our planet.

Dining vegetarian

Jane Tomlinson blogs about the difficulty of dining out in the UK if you are vegetarian. As a vegetarian myself and being married to a vegan, I can sympathise totally with her situation. And apparently the situation has gotten worse in the eleven years since I left the UK.

I remember being told in one pub in Yorkshire to try such and such, "it doesn't have much cheese in it". They obviously just don't get it do they? For some people, being vegetarian is on a par with having a religion. It is not something that can be waived for special ocassions.

We have had so many bad experiences here in Nova Scotia trying to get a meal that we no longer even bother trying to eat out, except at a few places where we know we can get something to eat. One is Subway (hardly a fine dining experience, but at least one option when we are out for the day) where they do a vegetarian sub, but even then we have been disappointed because they are out of the few types of bread that Pat can eat. Ponderosa has a salad bar which is always a safe bet. And when Pat had to spend a few days in hospital she ended up eating fruit - the 'dietician' didn't even know that Jello is not vegetarian.

Now, the point is that there may well be some fine restaurants that would cater to our diets, but we have run out of energy trying to find them. We don't want to have to pour through menus and interrogate the staff about the ingredients. Would it be so hard for each establishment to have at least one vegetarian and one vegan option clearly identified on the menu with some comforting words to show that they haven't sneeked in something with gelatin, honey or whey in the recipe?

 


Technorati Tags: vegetarian, vegan, catering, food, restaurants, customer service , Nova Scotia