W. K. Lis
Superstar
Hmmm. A wine industry in Muskoka or the shores of James Bay?
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The Climate Change Thread
- Thread starter afransen
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lenaitch
Senior Member
It's not just a matter of temperate climes. Soil, sunlight, moisture all come into play. Climate change typically means more energy in the atmosphere, which potentially means more damaging storms are erratic patterns such as late or early frosts.
Wine in Muskoka? Well, there is a cranberry industry, but cranberries and blueberries thrive on acidic soil and are hardy enough to withstand our climate. I'm not so sure about a lot of the non-native grape species.
ShonTron
Moderator
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There are clay regions on the Canadian Shield with good soil - the Little Claybelt along Highway 11 north of New Liskeard and the Great Claybelt around Cochrane are the best examples, but even Sudbury has some farming areas - but they still don't have great growing seasons. So it's limited mostly to grain farming, as well as dairy/livestock around the larger centres and a few greenhouses here and there. Climate change won't transform those quickly enough to make up for the loss of better agricultural lands elsewhere.
lenaitch
Senior Member
But it is changing. A buddy's brother farms near New New Liskeard and can now grow crops such as corn and soybean that he could not grow before. A lot of previously-fallow and more marginal lands are being bought up and put into production by Mennonites, many who have sold off in the K-W area for big profits. There are other pockets of arable land in the north as well; east of SSM and in the Thunder Bay and Dryden areas. I was in Thassalon a few years back and the motel was full of Mennonites who were in for the first cattle auction in something like 70 years.
According to this article, opportunities are there but not without challenges, but that farming. I doubt many in the south have to worry about bears and cranes eating their crops.
Farming the Great Clay Belt - Ontario Grain Farmer
A MARCH 31, 2016 article in Northern Ontario Business titled Beef farmers look to gain ground in the Clay Belt says “the North’s climate limits what cash crops can be grown, but the fertile soil is perfect for growing hay, oats, and grazing cattle”.
ontariograinfarmer.ca
kEiThZ
Superstar
I used to be more optimistic about PF until I heard actual bioengineers talk about the challenges. Biological processes don't scale like other tech. And PF requires a massive amount of energy. It's not very obvious that there's a net environmental benefit. When it comes to talking about PF meat and milk, we're talking about development that needs to scale like fusion to get the rosy economics promised.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
No one is allowed to speak on the upside of climate change.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Nothing to see here. Please disperse. Nothing, okay, a little bit to do with climate change.
tiffer24
Senior Member
A new proposal by the Ontario government would see regulations added that the province says will better protect workers in Ontario by limiting heat stress and heat-related illnesses, as temperatures across Canada and the globe continue to rise due to climate change.
The proposed bill, published this month, would add a new "stand-alone" heat stress regulation under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS) and would apply to all workplaces where the OHS applies.
According to the proposal, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development will conduct a regulatory impact analysis of the amendments in order to identify and assess potential benefits and costs. "Heat stress is a significant cause of occupational illnesses that may also lead to death," the proposal reads. "[It] occurs when the heat load on a worker from the combined contribution of environmental factors, physical activity, and clothing overcome the body's natural cooling system."
The ministry says due to changes in the climate, extreme heat events are a "growing health risk" to workers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/heat-stress-regulation-proposal-workers-ontario-1.6930303
The proposed bill, published this month, would add a new "stand-alone" heat stress regulation under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS) and would apply to all workplaces where the OHS applies.
According to the proposal, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development will conduct a regulatory impact analysis of the amendments in order to identify and assess potential benefits and costs. "Heat stress is a significant cause of occupational illnesses that may also lead to death," the proposal reads. "[It] occurs when the heat load on a worker from the combined contribution of environmental factors, physical activity, and clothing overcome the body's natural cooling system."
The ministry says due to changes in the climate, extreme heat events are a "growing health risk" to workers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/heat-stress-regulation-proposal-workers-ontario-1.6930303
kEiThZ
Superstar
Events like this really show how much we need to restructure our institutions. This is an example of how a lack of force projection in a country the size of a continent limits our ability to protect cities. In this case, Yellowknife. We should have been able to fly in enough combat engineers with enough kit to build fire breaks. And we should have a proper civil defence organization to lead on situations like this. Climate change is going to substantially expose our underspending on a lot of these capabilities and organizations.
Bjays92
Senior Member
Agreed. The lack of federal response here is glaringly obvious. So many resources should’ve been on hand long before evacuation was necessary.
Yellowknife is a city, im not saying we shouldn’t devote resources to protecting towns too but evacuating an entire city and potentially losing it is not feasible.
Wikipedia image of skyline for context:
Is it a huge city? No. But that’s a lot of infrastructure you do not want to lose. It’s the largest city in the territory and basically the only place that actually has many of the everyday things we take for granted around here. It’s also extremely overbuilt as a result.
The fact that it’s even possible we could lose a city like this is absurd. All the stops should’ve been pulled out and resources moved to defend the city rather than just tell everyone they have to leave and more or less just let the fire burn free.
Towered
Senior Member
Just more evidence that in a myriad of ways we are an un-serious country that is increasingly looked down upon by our peers. Yet another embarrassment.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Sorry folks:
www.nature.com
AoD
LK-99 isn’t a superconductor — how science sleuths solved the mystery
Replications pieced together the puzzle of why the material displayed superconducting-like behaviours.
www.nature.com
AoD
lenaitch
Senior Member
Not wanting to spin the thread off topic, one of the first debates would be whether this is even a suitable role for the military, or should this responsibility be taken up by a new or beefed-up civilian organization. The CDS has told legislators that training has been impacted by the tempo of domestic operations.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Ontario, unfortunately, is unable to spare wildfire fighters. Remember that in 2019, Doug Ford laid off or cut 67% from the Ontario Emergency Forest Firefighting budget.
kEiThZ
Superstar
There's massive risk right now. Given the commitments to NATO and our personnel shortfall this could end up simply breaking people only making every problem worse.
I've long been of the opinion that Canada should have a proper Civil Defence force that even takes over major functions like Search and Rescue. The CAF can then support that agency rather than being the first responder for this stuff. The military role will never disappear completely. There's a lot of capabilities that only the military could support and maintain. Such an agency would also be a good spot for injured veterans who can work but don't meet university of service and so are forced out today, letting substantial public investment out the door.
My preferred model is the French one:
Sécurité Civile - Wikipedia
A remarkable facet of a lot of these organizations is how much of it is volunteers. 97% of Germany's 80k strong Civil Defence force is volunteers.
Technisches Hilfswerk - Wikipedia
Alternatively one of the most professional services out there is Singapore's Civil Defence force:
