Current GTA Green News:
Oilsands 30 times deadlier for birds than estimated: Study
Ecologist’s study just the latest to question official government and industry figures on the environmental impact of the oilsands.
Study links decline in bee pollination to climate change
“Climate-driven” mismatch between when flowers bloom and when bees emerge from hibernation may be to blame, Canadian study suggests.
Hawking book says universe was created spontaneously
American physicist Leonard Mlodinow worked with famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking to create The Grand Design.
Taking aim at the CNE air show
Roy Mitchell donned a “decibel detector” on his head — a papier mâché ball bedazzled with knick-knacks — to see if the noise from his friend drowned out the planes.
Passersby cocked their eyebrows. The jets continued on unfazed.
Their mock experiment was all part of a protest against the CNE’s air show.
About 10 people huddled for a picnic beneath a rain-soaked tarp in Trinity Bellwoods Park yesterday to protest what they call an antiquated event that pollutes the environment, disturbs residents and promotes symbols of militarism.
“So often the argument people use for keeping the air show alive is: ‘It’s tradition.’ We think it’s an outdated tradition,” said Doctor. “We hate that there are these war planes flying over Toronto neighbourhoods.”
The group’s members say there is a growing intolerance among Torontonians against the jet spectacle. However, instead of holding a confrontational protest, they thought it would be more productive to hold a picnic that raises attention to the social and environmental problems they attribute to the air show.
“What are you going to do, stand at the CNE and yell at people?” Mitchell said. “I think there’s a lot to be said about using farce and making a potato salad.”
Six killed over long weekend
“I know of three fatalities on the water and three on the roads,” said OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford.
“We won’t have our final numbers until Tuesday.”
A 74-year-old Toronto woman was killed Saturday when her Volkswagen slammed into a pickup truck on Highway 35 in Fenelon Falls.
Officers responded to serious or fatal crashes on highways near Napanee and Port Hope, as well, Woodford said.
On Sunday evening, divers from an OPP search-and-recovery unit pulled the lifeless bodies of a pair of 18-year-olds from Skeleton Lake, which is about 20 kilometres southwest of Huntsville, after the canoe carrying the teenagers and another man overturned.
Police say the bodies of Joseph Silva and Brodie Williamson, both of St. Catharines, were found close to where their canoe capsized. Neither teenager was wearing a life-jacket.
Police said they weren’t prepared to release details on the third water-related fatality.
Cee-Lo Green didn't expect his cursed good fortune
Nearly five million views for his Motown-flavoured kiss off and Gnarls Barkley singer Cee-Lo Green has a hit, even if radio can't touch it.
Teens who drowned in cottage country identified
Two teens who went missing after their canoe flipped on Skeleton Lake in Huntsville have been identified.
Coyle: McGuinty is still The Unknown Premier
Seven years after becoming premier, Dalton McGuinty is still an empty canvas, but PC leader Tim Hudak is filling in the colours.
CNE air show returns to the skies
The Canadian International Air Show lifted off with a great start on Sunday after high winds and choppy waters forced the cancellation of the show Saturday.
The Canadian International Air Show lifted off with a great start Sunday after high winds and choppy waters forced the cancellation of the show Saturday.
CNE air show cancelled due to weather
Choppy water and strong winds forced the cancellation of the CNE air show Saturday. The event, now in its 61st year, is still drawing crowds.
Garden depends on Facebook fans for nourishment
Students at the University of Queensland have created Meet Eater: a real garden that is watered by Facebook fans.
Outlook warm for Ontario
“If there was a headline for this summer, it would be, ‘Summer just won’t end,’ ” said Environment Canada’s Dave Phillips. “What you’re seeing is what you’ll continue to get.
Nature has not paid attention to the calendar and the summer will go on.”
Though these have been the warmest eight months in Toronto’s history, Phillips said a cool 20 C on Saturday and 19 C on Sunday might dampen the spirits of cottagers this Labour Day weekend.
“We will have a taste of fall – a dress rehearsal – this weekend,” Phillips said. “It’s unfortunate that it will be that way on Labour Day because for so many people it is the last hoorah. So we’re going to be pulling out jackets and putting away the muscle shirts and shorts.”
But don’t bury that summer gear in the back of the closet yet — the warm weather is expected to be back again.
“Next week we see sunshine on Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures three, four and five degrees warmer that normal, so the good weather will continue.” Phillips said September and October will continue on the same track, with a possibility to stay frost free.
Lanes re-open on Erin Mills Pkwy.
City offers soil-cleaning tips to promote urban gardening
The city is hoping a new soil-contaminant protocol will encourage more residents to grow their own fruits and vegetables.
Smog is down, but political fog is up
Critics say energy minister’s attempt to garner cleaner-air glory ignores lots of air-cleaning rain and helpful winds from Mother Nature this summer.
No signs of oil spill after Gulf rig fire
Thirteen crew escaped and now signs of a spill after oil and gas platform bursts into flames in Gulf of Mexico.
Fuel tanker grounded in Northwest Passage
The Coast Guard says there were no spills after a tanker carrying nine million litres of fuel ran aground Monday.
Weather 360: Warm fall forecast for Ontario
“If there was a headline for this summer, it would be, ‘Summer just won’t end,’ “ says Environment Canada’s Dave Phillips. “Nature has not paid attention to the calendar.”
Cooling eggs could eliminate salmonella, prof says
With the massive recall of eggs in the U.S., a new cooling procedure that uses carbon dioxide promises to prevent salmonella.
Canada’s trail capital walking on the wild side in Uxbridge
Dye is among the 85 per cent of Uxbridge residents who are a short hop from the trail system through more than 3,200 hectares of protected green space. It’s that proximity, along with the number and variety of trails, that recently earned the township the federal designation of “trail capital of Canada.”
With the legwork done, now they’re getting the word out, says Uxbridge’s chief administrative officer Ingrid Svelnis, citing new green and white signs proudly proclaiming the title with maps and details and a booth at the CNE.
Visitors of all ages and abilities can travel hundreds of kilometres on foot, bicycle, horseback, skis and wheelchairs on some trails, and on ATVs and snowmobiles along separate routes for motorized vehicles. The trails, which run through forests, wetlands, meadows, a rehabilitated gravel pit, historic villages and residential areas, tie into the major Oak Ridges and Trans-Canada systems.
“Being just an hour from downtown (Toronto), it’s so easy to come up for the day and scoot back,” says Wynn Walters, a local sculptor and volunteer trails ambassador who did the design and graphics for signs and brochures.
There’s a big educational component to the trails, he says, noting descriptive displays on habitats and history, and an art-in-the-park area where artists have painted scenes.
