Most of my blog over the last couple of months or maybe three has been about the weather. The changes and the ways to deal with it. The reason for the change has been purely due to our own neglect and the abuse of the environment and our natural resources. In 2007, the people of Sydney, Australia took it in their own hands and made a difference by powering down for an hour between 8 - 9 pm. This initiative was followed in 30 countries this year and I was proud to be part of it too.
What worked for the Aussies last year was applied across the globe in several cities and Toronto was one of the leading participants. Over the last few weeks the hype has been great and even the local Brampton newspaper stressed the importance of it. So my wife and I decided that we must contribute to it. We powered down all our non essential lights and electrical equipment at 8 pm.
There were several things planned for people to do during this hour and it was amazing to see the CN Tower power down as well as several buildings downtown turn off their lights. There was a concert at Nathan Phillips square with Nelly Furtado performing an acoustic concert. It is a small step toward a great savings for the future. There are simple things that we can to do on a daily basis to save more energy by switching off unnecessary lights, doing our laundry with cold water and driving at posted speed limits.
We hoped that our neighbours would be a part of the initiative. Unfortunately, Earth Hour was not welcomed by as many people as we thought on our street, we hope though, that there will greater acceptance of this in our locality and across the world in the years to come.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
It is now Spring, is this how it is supposed to feel?
At 1:48 this morning, we officially switched seasons and Spring is here. However, the weather is cold, cold and colder. With temperatures in -11 to -15 range and the added wind chill factor it is as low as -20, it feels like anything but Spring. It is still bloody cold and the weathermen say that we may have six weeks of winter left.
Climate change is what is to be blamed for this and Torontonians have not been taking very kindly to this weather. This has been anything but a normal winter that like I have said in the past, it has been very warm during the same time over the last two years. There has been a maximum of three or four snow storms in a year. This year, I lost count after the eighth or maybe the ninth one.
Climate change is what is to be blamed for this and Torontonians have not been taking very kindly to this weather. This has been anything but a normal winter that like I have said in the past, it has been very warm during the same time over the last two years. There has been a maximum of three or four snow storms in a year. This year, I lost count after the eighth or maybe the ninth one.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
DST Yipee!
I've been writing several pieces about the cold, cold winter and now to help us feel a little better, the clocks changed this Sunday, March 9, 2008. We spring forward by an hour though officially Spring is two weeks away. What this also means is that we lose an hour of sleep and we now see more sunlight. In the next couple of weeks we should see at least 12 hours of sunlight, when the sun does come out.
Daylight Savings Time (DST) is a concept that is used in the cold countries where the winters are long and there is limited sunlight. Studies have proved that DST is beneficial in helping people overcome the long depressing winter and exposure to sunlight makes them more productive. There is another school of thought which implies that DST benefits businesses with shoppers out longer in the summer months. DST also helps in energy conservation and that is why the Governments in North America chose to bring DST forward by two weeks. DST in the past, used to be the first Sunday in April while now DST will run from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
The sudden switch impacts people as the loss in an hour of sleep does take its toll on concentration and productivity at work. The first Monday after the DST switch is supposed to be recorded as the worst day for road accidents. It takes the average person about two to three days to come to terms with the switch. While the easy remedy for this, is to sleep an hour earlier the day that the DST switch happens, it is not the popular choice for all. I must admit that though my sleep patterns were regular when the switch happened, it did take me three days to adjust to the change.
Daylight Savings Time (DST) is a concept that is used in the cold countries where the winters are long and there is limited sunlight. Studies have proved that DST is beneficial in helping people overcome the long depressing winter and exposure to sunlight makes them more productive. There is another school of thought which implies that DST benefits businesses with shoppers out longer in the summer months. DST also helps in energy conservation and that is why the Governments in North America chose to bring DST forward by two weeks. DST in the past, used to be the first Sunday in April while now DST will run from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
The sudden switch impacts people as the loss in an hour of sleep does take its toll on concentration and productivity at work. The first Monday after the DST switch is supposed to be recorded as the worst day for road accidents. It takes the average person about two to three days to come to terms with the switch. While the easy remedy for this, is to sleep an hour earlier the day that the DST switch happens, it is not the popular choice for all. I must admit that though my sleep patterns were regular when the switch happened, it did take me three days to adjust to the change.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Worst Snow Storm!
Today we experienced the worst snow storm of our first winter in Canada. The snow started late Friday evening and the dumping continued for almost 24 hours. This after we had a snow day on the Wednesday of the week. Close to 30 cms of snow was recorded in Toronto and that brings us close to the record that was set almost 70 years ago.
The record is 208 cms and we are currently at 189 for the year. It has clearly beaten the average snowfall record and is almost twice the snow that has been recorded in the last two years. Before we came here, I had never seen any of the white stuff and now I will be very happy when it all ends.
It is great if you are at home or are a skier, however, when you have to shovel and clean your driveway, it is no fun. Apologies to those who do not share the same feelings about the snow, in my opinion most of the locals have had it with the snow for now.
The record is 208 cms and we are currently at 189 for the year. It has clearly beaten the average snowfall record and is almost twice the snow that has been recorded in the last two years. Before we came here, I had never seen any of the white stuff and now I will be very happy when it all ends.
It is great if you are at home or are a skier, however, when you have to shovel and clean your driveway, it is no fun. Apologies to those who do not share the same feelings about the snow, in my opinion most of the locals have had it with the snow for now.
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