I lied about it starting to cool down here. Over the weekend it was cool, but rain was mere spit and the temperatures are back up to 31 this week, even this morning on my run. I had to stop after a mile and a half due to the heat as well as a new health issue that I may elaborate on later. Anyway, the Vancouver Metro area is still at a level 4 drought, and the Okanagan zone joined that too recently. The little rain that we have had comes in forms of storms elsewhere, in the interior, bringing lightning, which has been one of the major causes for the fires.
I’m not sure what the water table is at, but our water restrictions have not been lifted since July. I read a report this morning on how the Athabasca River, fed by a glacier, is so low on water that oil sands operations are now limited in what they can use. I and others have long advocated that it’s past time for Canada to diversify its economy and revenue and that relying solely on natural resources, in the time of climate change, is a terrible idea. Seems the main sources of income are logging (which has gone down due to the pine beetle) and this marginal oil (aka tar sands) that uses way more water and other resources than lighterweight oils. You kinda have to wonder, why doesn’t Canada get into solar and windpower, do more localized markets? Why not tech solutions to energy rather than the old take everything out of the ground, cutting down forests to do so? Just doesn’t make sense. There is only a limited supply of timber, oil, and resources to acquire them (like water).
It’s increasingly obvious that even in places like “cool” Canada, the effects of climate change are everywhere, even hitting the industries that exacerbate it. I feel like we’re in a relationship with red flags everywhere but are choosing to ignore them because the side effects of convenience and luxury soothe us. It’s a cyclic and bad relationship!