Free Clotheslines, Blowing in The Wind

With yesterday's energy-conserving announcement by Premier Dalton McGuinty that Ontario's subdivisions will no longer be permitted to ban outdoor clotheslines, Toronto Star reports Toronto Hydro will be lauching a free, clothesline giveaway at selected retail outlets:

Each Saturday and Sunday from April 26 to May 11, retractable lines for indoor or outdoor use, worth $13 to $15 each, will be handed to the first 500 shoppers at some Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Costco and Zellers locations. Details can be found at torontohydro.com.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Earth Hour: “Great Job Canada”

Promoted by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour was a global effort to raise awareness of climate change.

Yesterday, between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Canada showed its support of the cause in numerous cities across the country.

World Wildlife Canada reports:

Earth Hour was a huge global success! On Saturday, March 29, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. people around the world turned out their lights for Earth Hour, sending a very strong message to our government, and governments around the world, that we need to take action on climate change now.

Beginning in Tel Aviv and ending in Vancouver, the lights went out and the celebrations began. Many iconic buildings and landmarks around the world turned out their lights, including the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco; Alcatraz jail, San Francisco; Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia; Brighton Pier, UK and the Sears Tower, Chicago.

Canada had one of the highest participation rates around the globe with over 150 cities participating. Great job Canada! Many buildings and landmarks also turned off their lights. These included the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, Toronto Eaton Centre, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Honest Ed’s in Ontario; all buildings in which VanCity, BC Hydro and City of Vancouver operate; and the MacDonald Bridge, City Hall, and Parade Square in Halifax.

Thanks to everyone here in Canada and around the world that participated in the first ever, world wide Earth Hour! Your efforts and determination have made this an event to remember.

The Toronto Star reports that during Earth Hour, power usage in Toronto dropped 8.7% exceeding the City’s goal of a 5% power drop during the event.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

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Study: Global Warming Signals Stronger, Happening Sooner than Expected

MSNBC reports on a chilling assessment on climate change from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to researchers, as the Earth warms, its ability to cope with increasing carbon dioxide levels may be diminishing:

...An alarming new study finds that warming signals are stronger, and happening sooner than expected, due to increased human emissions of carbon dioxide and an Earth less able to absorb them.

Carbon dioxide emissions were 35 percent higher in 2006 than in 1990, a much faster growth rate than anticipated, researchers reported in Tuesday’s edition of the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Increased industrial use of fossil fuels coupled with a decline in the ability of land and oceans to absorb CO2 were listed as causes of the increase.

... "The new twist here is the demonstration that weakening land and ocean sinks are contributing to the accelerating growth of atmospheric CO2,” said co-author Chris Field, director of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University.

The researchers said that human-induced warming had caused changes in wind patterns over the Southern Ocean that brought carbon-rich water toward the surface, reducing the ocean’s ability to absorb excess CO2 from the atmosphere.
On land, where plant growth is the major mechanism for soaking up CO2, droughts have curbed that ability, they stated.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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