Larry Tries Again to Draw Attention to the Manitoba Flooding & Climate Change Connection

PUBLISHER'S COMMENT:

Below is my letter to Terry McLeod, host of the CBC Radio "Information Radio," morning show in Winnipeg. It is in response to an invitation he extended to listeners to comment on the current flood situation.

I'm not holding my breath that it will be used. My record in having such letters/emails see the light of day "on the air," especially on the climate change topic, has not been too good! I hope they will prove me wrong this time! l.p.
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Dear Terry,

Perhaps it's high-time for us to recognize the link between climate change and the increasingly serious floods we are facing in our province and elsewhere. Climate change is caused by humans. We are creating too many greenhouse gases by, among other things, the vehicles we drive and the planes we fly in. These, in turn are warming the planet and creating more extreme weather events such as the flooding which has definitely been on the increase in both frequency and intensity.

Wouldn't it be better to start putting more emphasis on sustainable energy which would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? Instead, we are expanding the airport, pressing on with massive transportation corridors and exploring for oil, a decidedly non-sustainable source, at record levels!

We also need to think about just who is suggesting the "link" I refer to. Is it just me? Hardly!

• Environment Canada's Chief climatolotist, Dave Phillips is saying it.
• Peer-reviewed articles in the Journal Nature are saying it.
• The Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development is saying it.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is saying it.
• Thousands of climate scientists around the world are saying it.

After a brief flurry of attention this problem generated earlier this decade, our politicians, industry and media all seem to have come down with collective amnesia and are now shamefully neglecting this most important environmental issue of our time. In so doing, we are surely immersing not only ourselves, but future generations in a huge whirlpool of uncertainty!

Larry Powell
Roblin, MB