BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID

It is said that the Evening News is where they begin with - 'Good Evening;' and then proceed to tell you why it is not. As this is written the European Common Market, the "Euro Zone" is at the brink of financial and political collapse after Greece backed-off a pledge to fix its debt crisis, proposing instead to bring the matter before a national referendum. (Beware of Greeks bearing referendums!)

The net result being that the long simmering worldwide deep-Recession, a troublesome Depression for many, which began when banks in the United-States over-extended their own credit in 2008 does not appear to be going anywhere north of the ledger for the foreseeable future. Investors and retirees who squirreled away their nest-eggs 15 years ago in so-called safe instruments saw the value rise until 2001 then flatten-out and stagnate. Check the major stock market indices: They are hovering over the same territory as ten years ago. Little wonder that desperate people have taken to the streets in shiftless and pointless "occupy" protests.

Weather extremes so severe that some regions
may be only "marginally habitable".

Just as the planet's population topped 7-Billion souls earlier in the week,  scientists issued a warning that there are too many of us here..."global warming isn't the sole villain in future climate disasters. An even bigger problem will be the number of people who live in harm's way." - One of two conclusions reached in a yet unpublished report of a Nobel Prize winning panel of experts working for the United-Nations and the World Meteorological Organization. A draft summary of the report was leaked to the Associated Press in the United-States probably because its authors fear their conclusions will be "watered-down" by U.- N. officials, politicians and diplomats after a scheduled meeting to review its content in Uganda near the end of the month.

To digress: Critics of The Bilderberg Group, the highly secretive club of influential business tycoons, financiers and politicians formed in 1954, have accused the "club" of fomenting a plan to reduce the planet's population to a sustainable 500-million to 1-billion people....

The leaked report obtained by the Associated Press says our future together is one of grim floods, more heat waves, more droughts, typhoons, stronger hurricanes and, if the world economy wasn't already bad enough, far greater costs to deal with weather catastrophes.  It warns that extremes occasioned by climate change may eventually grow so severe that some locations become..."increasingly marginal as places to live." (!)

AP says the report claims the world will have more extreme spells of 'heat' peaking as much as 5 degrees (C) hotter by 2050 and as much as 9 degrees by the end of the century. Weather reports being compiled in the United-States show already that 2,703 specific daily high temperature records were set this past summer (2011). According to Weather Underground Meteorology, that makes it the hottest summer in the U.S. since the height of the Great Depression Dust Bowl of 1936. - Maybe there's a noteworthy parallel here!

Perhaps there is a valid reason after all why the mysterious centuries' old "Mayan Calendar" expires in December 2012.

WATER: NOT JUST FOR THE COMMODE

Media personalities, screen actors, winners of the Nobel Prize have been pushing back publicly against the Keystone XL oil pipeline project set for President Obama's final approval any day now.

Demonstrators have recently moved the protests to Ottawa as it has become increasingly obvious that in Washington's politically charged atmosphere, one year out from a Presidential election, green-flagging the pipeline is a "slam-dunk"; or a no-brainer as Stephen Harper described it to Bloomberg News in New York last weekend.

The 2700 Kilometer Keystone XL pipeline will draw unrefined oil from northern Alberta through Saskatchewan to enter the United-States in Montana on its way to the petroleum refineries along the Gulf Coast of southern Texas. The economic impact and the number of jobs created along its multi-states route are simply too overwhelming for the Obama Administration, which is fighting to regain control of America's troubled economy, to ignore.

Moving-on: Every step of the way along the Harper Government's efforts to improve trade relations with the United-States (pipeline included); Canada's strategy for negotiating the enhanced "Perimeter Security" arrangements has butted-heads and been hampered by America's steadfast resolve that homeland security trumps trade. Even when trade is with its neighbourly and overwhelmingly largest international business and trading partner. Though it may be unrelalted, The Government of the United-States has already declared that "water supply" is a national security issue.

A significant element of the problem already affects several states south of our shared 49th parallel. They have now allocated their maximum existing water supplies to farming, industry and urban development. Either they will have to do with less water, or tap large new sources as the North American climate continues to change and erode largely because of our human habits and indiscretions.

Back in 2010, Canada was one of a handful of countries which abstained from a vote at the United-Nations declaring water to be a universal right. Flushed with renewable fresh water resources along with our miniscule population which is less that 0.5% of the planet's, we Canadians are already the world's largest per capita consumers of water. The simmering debate given recent new life by trend spotters, some investment gurus, and conversely little attention by policy makers, seems to suggest: Forget oil and gas -Invest in water! Back in July, the Chief Economist at Citibank, William Buiter, pretty much said so in a memo to investors: "I expect to see in the near future a massive expansion of investment in the water sector, including the production of fresh, clean water from other sources (desalination, purification), storage, shipping and transportation of water. I expect to see pipeline networks that will exceed the capacity of those for oil and gas today." (Quoted from the Alphaville Blog)

An analysis prepared by the Canadian military, and so far (it seems) largely ignored by the escalating level of incompetents responsible for our Department of National Defence, (I digress!) claims that up to 60 countries could fall into a category of water scarcity or stress by 2050. It would place Canada and our abundance of water on the path to "a key source of (political) power" or a "basis for future conflict." Parts of the draft report titled: 'Army 2040 - First Look' were seen by Postmedia News in June, before the Citibank memo was issued by the Chief-Ecnomist.

The draft of the Army report concludes that Canada's path into this hazardous and problamic future depends on the policy decisions made by the government today. Haven't seen any. - Sure hope the planned largely discredited "Law and Order" legislation before the House of Commons isn't a sign-post precursor of the road ahead.

MY NEW BEST BUDDY

Unprecedented winter snowfall, spring floods of apocalyptic proportions, famine on the African Continent while North Americans bake under an unrelenting heat-wave. If it wasn't for the absence of plagues and pestilence believers might well conclude that Biblical Prophesy is upon us.

Little wonder that radio and television weather forecasters; "climatologists" as per the preferred designated terminology of this 21st Century, have assumed the role of Hero to the Masses. Lest I digress, what a surprising turn of events particularly when contrasted against the featured dumb-blond stereotypical "Weather Girl" (The Weather Bunny) of the golden age of television and/or the iconic mid-sixties Hippie-Dippy Weatherman persona of the brilliant monologist, George Carlin...



The acute dramatic changes in climate which we now suffer are (of course) the result of humankind's abuse of the planet and its precious ecological systems and balances. Since we're clearly not doing enough to change the obvious outcome, we North Americans must slog through a crisis decade of remarkable floods, drought and in the United-States in particular this year, the deadliest tornado season on record. And if we can't change the weather (or if we won't!) then better that the broadcast meteorologist be our new best bud.

As the weather becomes a bigger story, our need for information will grow. U.S. National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told The New York Times recently: "The weather is more extreme, the floods are wetter and the droughts are drier. That's going to have real implications on society and it elevates the need for more information and a need for those on-air personalities. It's beyond what to wear for the day or do I need to carry an umbrella."

I am of a generation who remembers when the weather forecast was read directly right-off of the teletype machine. Or at best the weather guy stood in front of a giant chalkboard map to draw smiley face suns and gloomy clouds after patiently waiting his turn till the very end of the News Broadcast. Now of course weather broadcasters preside over radar systems and they frequently cover more "on set" real-estate than their fellow news readers and reporters.

Clearly changing atmospheric patterns are now the reason why "weather" commands watching television news. And in as much as most of us would like the climatologist to "change the weather" sometimes, if he could he wouldn't be on television. We should just get used to watching, preparing for the worse and hoping for the best.

MONDO CANE (A dog's world)

CLEAR-UP THE MESSAGE - Back in the fall of 2008 when Barack Obama won the American Presidential election, the kids got a dog - Named 'Bo' (www.obama-dog.com). Back here, last month after a third try, when Stephen Harper won a clear majority in Parliament; the kids got a cat - Named 'Stanley'. I may need help sorting-out what this says about us.

THE POO-POO THAT YOU DOO-DOO - Spring's arrival in Canada's heavy populated southern regions is generally signaled by the return of obnoxious fumes and odors emitted by the thawing remains of five to seven months of dog droppings. They've been left to freeze to the snow and ice either through carelessness and/or (most likely) by semi-comatose frost bitten pet owners somewhat too anxious to return to the artificial warmth of their own indoors. As the globe's warming melts back the perma-frost of the Arctic tundra perhaps we should fear the stench awaiting from the eons of archaeological droppings which await there.

SNIFF YOUR OWN DAMN BUTT - In the USA, Bloomberg News reports that a dog trained to sniff-out colorectal cancer was almost as accurate as a colonoscopy. The un-named specially trained Labrador-Retriever (no doubt to protect it's identity) was 95% accurate as a colonoscopy when smelling breath samples; and 98% correct with stool samples. Okay! Enough about 'poo' - Still there may be something positive to be said about avoiding an invasive, humiliating and miserable exam where the "sun don't shine".

SCENTS ABILITY - Honest, I'm not making this up. There is a company called "Scents Ability" in Ottawa that hires-out a pooch, this one named "Buck" (doubtless one mean sucker) to sniff-out marijuana; heroin; methamphetamine; and cocaine. At $125 a pop; it's for the parent who has everything except trust in their teen aged kid and what they may hide in their jeans or bedroom. Has the world gone mad? Recent court decisions in Ontario have banned no-warrant searches by police dogs on school premises. Now the publicly funded school board can just call-in this nose for hire instead. Honestly, I'd rather my tax dollars be spent on education. Let's see if any of this stands-up in Court.

WATER WARS

A nearby neighbour here in central Florida was perplexed by my response to a suggestion water from the Great Lakes would resolve drought issues along the American south.

He thought building a pipeline pumping water from the lakes to the parched south would be a great American economic stimulus project which, in addition to creating thousands of jobs, would eventually alleviate environmental concerns about America's water shortages. He'd just never considered that Canada, which shares the Great Lakes with the United States, might want to have a say in the matter.

Lost amongst the hoopla of the Parliamentary debate in Ottawa this week, there's been a three-day conference in Toronto that kicked-off "World Water Day" on Tuesday. There is real growing potential for violent conflict to erupt over fresh water as the global population grows amidst a backdrop of climate change and over-population. And, the Great Lakes represent as much as a quarter of all of the world's surface fresh water, and 95% of the entire North American supply.

The three day conference held at the prestigious Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto, has been looking at the prospect of future wars being fought over water. The planet's population will top 9-Billion people by mid-century. Combined with climate change caused by global warming, and the growing impact of natural disasters they add-up to what one expert described as a "hydro-climatic bomb" which has already started to tick. A very recent case in point - Tokyo's tap water has been deemed unsafe for infants because of radio-active emissions from those crippled nuclear reactors which are several hundred miles from the city.

As Canadians edge ever closer to a spring Federal Election, the former Prime-Minister Jean Chretien, is unlikely to get much political support for proposing that we should not be afraid of a national debate about exporting some of our vast water resources. Mr. Chretien told the Toronto conference he believes a new national discussion is needed. During Mr. Chretien's term as Prime Minister in the 1990's intense public backlash derailed plans at both ends of the country (in British-Columbia and in Newfoundland) as well as Ontario to export fresh water to the United States and by tanker elsewhere overseas; as we do oil and natural gas.

Be that as it may, Mr. Chretien's suggestion was swiftly rebuked by the Council of Canadians. The 1985 creation of Alberta publisher Mel Hurtig and author Pierre Berton, the "council" has substantially expanded its mandate since Ottawa activist Maude Barlow became the national chairperson. Ms Barlow is the author of: "Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Rights of Water". Ms Barlow says it's disconcerting that the former Prime Minister is opening the door to a water-trade debate. She told the "Globe and Mail" the country would lose control of the resource if it begins providing it to customers south of the border and beyond. Five years ago the Great Lakes Commission, a partnership of the US States and Canadian Provinces which border the lakes, estimated that communities around the basin of the Great Lakes already were pumping 850-Billion gallons of water out of the system every day. That free flow of fresh water is unlikely to have diminished in subsequent years.

Research presented at the Toronto conference suggests that 25% or more of the world's water(related)conflicts over the past 5000 years have occurred in the 11 years since the start of the 21st Century. That's likely just the tip of the (melting) iceberg. R.W. Stanford, a Canadian with the "United Nations International Water For Life Decade" says the global water situation is changing so rapidly that it may soon no longer resemble anything that's existed on the planet before.

Humans of the future may adapt to life without the benefits of oil, natural gas and gasoline. We can't survive without fresh water. When it starts to run out. That is when things will get really ugly.

BAD WINDS OF CHANGE

At the very height of the 2007 hurricane season the Director of the National Hurricane center based in Miami, Florida was forced out of his job. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina late in the 2005 season, Bill Proenza's mistake had been to publicly criticize the ageing satellite technology the world's foremost tropical storm / hurricane center depends on to predict land falling storms. Between 2004 and 2005, a total of 8 hurricanes and 3 (named) tropical storms had struck or brushed Florida. In fact. 2005 remains the most active hurricane season on record...



Hurricane Center Director Proenza is long gone; but the old technology he complained about almost 4 years ago still remains the only "go to" Earth-watching system in place. There are 13 Earth-observing satellites still in orbit and all of them are passed their "best before" date. Lest I digress: Perhaps in order to avoid Director Proenza's fate, scientists have taken to claiming the orbiting satellites are in "their sunset years."

In addition to ending the storied Space-Shuttle program later this year; years of belt tightening have left NASA's Earth-watching system in sorry shape. And, any money for new environmental satellites will have to survive Washington's budget cutting, the naysayers on global warming, and most recently increasing doubt in the United States about the competency of the space agency which put the first man on the moon more than four decades ago.

For the second time in two years at week's end a rocket glitch sent the latest $425-million weather watching probe to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Early on Friday, the Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's "Glory" satellite lifted from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and plummeted to the ocean's floor several minutes later. The same thing happened to another system named "OCO" in late February of 2009.

Back at the time of Bill Proenza's Miami demise in 2007, his concerns were echoed by a panel of the U.S. National Academies of Science which claimed that NASA's climate-monitoring system was at "risk of collapse". It's now feared that these recent back-to-back fiascoes could have serious political repercussions. It is feared that the Tea-Party backed newly elected Republican controlled American Congress and the climate-change skeptics who support them have just been handed more ammunition to question whether this is a good way to spend taxpayer dollars for rockets that fail and for purposes they claim to be suspect.

NASA's bruised ego, record and reputation surely are in desperate need of an image make-over. Perhaps sadly one which requires appealing to the somewhat baser instincts of American society. Among them the vast middle-class which has been crushed by mounting national debt and stagnant employment rates. All of which may just explain the Fox News "exclusive" this weekend claiming that a NASA Scientist, Richard Hoover, says he's uncovered evidence of Alien life on a rare class of meteorites, of which there are a total of nine known to have crashed to Earth.

THE MEDIA SUPERLATIVES JUST WON'T DO.

Welcome to another year of climate change. Unfortunately, North America's media headlines and superlatives may just not suffice anymore.

In the last 24 months (or so) our now all too frequently weather extremes have been described in media headlines as "storms of the decade"; no wait: "storm of the century"; and yes everyone will surely recall "Snowmageddon of 2010."

The obvious reality is that the world is the victim of an aggressive change in climate brought about by the planet's warming; and for which (besides the media's obsessive headlines) we are doing pitilessly little to deal with. Here in North America slogans and headlines have become our antidote for efficiency.

Having now wrapped the first decade of the 21st Century the slogans, "Snowmageddon" et all have simply replaced mankind's ability to deal with the symptoms of our crumbling human infrastructures...God forbid we should even begin to deal with the reality that our two-legged Race is causing the planet itself to strike-back against the excesses.

In the wake of three successive December storms along Canada's Atlantic coast which caused damages in the millions of dollars to New Brunswick's already battered economy; Robert Hughes, a researcher with the province's Department of the Environment concludes that the unprecedented storms may be an example of climate change, and advises..."in the end Nature will tend to win."

Of course the same storms also caused havoc along the northeast coast of the United-States, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelling passengers at airport and railway terminals and on highways stretching from the deep south to Maine's border with the fore mentioned New Brunswick. And, the headlines screamed that either the airline customer services failed, or the Mayor of New York; Governor of New Jersey...and all the others have somehow been the ones to blame.

Of course, it's not just us: There's flooding across the Pacific rim from Australia all the way north to California. Unprecedented storms in western Europe and record breaking low temperatures affecting the Caribbean Islands and into Florida. Polk County, Florida - America's tender fruit mecca - set a total of seven record cold days in December, including minus 4 Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) on December 28. Not terribly good for everything from the Orange and Strawberry crops to the precious tropical fish farms which lost 70% of the year's output.

It's complicated to believe that "global warming" is freezing our asses off. But that is the reality and not only is there no short term relief, but it seems that as a human race we aren't even prepared to face the rapid changes we have brought unto ourselves - Of course other than to nod "yes" when the media scream with another superlative adjective, and/or blame others for the state of the weakened infrastructures which can no longer cope with Nature's fury.

If that isn't enough, maybe this will help: Breakfast teas produced in India and sold worldwide; notable for their heartiness, strenght and body, are turning weak and fowl tasting. Experts conclude it's more evidence of flavour fall-out occasioned by climate change. The Queen surely isn't likely to be amused.

Clearly we are both unprepared and unwilling to take the necessary measures which would give humans a fighting chance against the changing climate circumstances successive modern generations have visited on the planet's ecology. Guess we can all keep watching for the superlative media headlines and hope for the best...but in the end: Nature likely will win.