# Global Warming



## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

this is sh*tty


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Where did you get that from? Can you see algae from space?


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

Pablo I know you have said before that you prefer fish over people... I could not agree more. 

Some more bad news... conservationists believe black rhinos have become extinct in the wild, breeding in captivity is so hard... and with the lack of a gene pool they are doomed . 

Sometimes I think about the world as a sentient being. If you think this way it is hard not to think of humans are a virus. I can't help but think the Earth has a immune system fighting us of... creating AIDS, and potential viral epidemics. It's weird how the really hazardous ones are usually in the highly populated areas... like it was done on purpose. Maybe the Earth has a safety population #... when that is reached it reacts. 

On a positive note, I am so happy I live in Canada. So much wilderness, space... not so much Toronto but pretty much everywhere else . I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

I'm not crazy  , its just people can drive me sooo crazy. For a species that so intelligent, we are being very stupid. It could be that I miss the country too .


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

chompy said:


> Pablo I know you have said before that you prefer fish over people... I could not agree more.
> 
> Some more bad news... conservationists believe black rhinos have become extinct in the wild, breeding in captivity is so hard... and with the lack of a gene pool they are doomed .
> 
> ...


AIDS was created as a biological weapon by the United States and Great Britain. As far as people being a virus I'd say that's pretty accurate.

I've seen so many things go to complete sh*t since I was born. And despite how much we currently espouse environmental cleanliness we continue to destroy the environment.

In my opinion world events and opinions as presented to the public are merely a fassad meant for entertainment and propaganda...


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> Where did you get that from? Can you see algae from space?


When its that thick and theres about 1000 square kilometers of it yep you can.


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

Pablo said:


> AIDS was created as a biological weapon by the United States and Great Britain. As far as people being a virus I'd say that's pretty accurate.


Good Lord people get a grip! That is the most absurd thing I have heard in quite awhile. Perhaps you should send that idea to Micheal Moore, I am sure he could make an "accurate documentary" about it.

Secondly, algea blooms have been occuring for centuries. Long before the industrial revolution, mega-corporations and George Bush.


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

jrs said:


> Good Lord people get a grip! That is the most absurd thing I have heard in quite awhile. Perhaps you should send that idea to Micheal Moore, I am sure he could make an "accurate documentary" about it.
> 
> Secondly, algea blooms have been occuring for centuries. Long before the industrial revolution, mega-corporations and George Bush.


Oh come on... didn't you laugh just a little, I thought it was too funny  Micheal Moore just want to bring forward nothing but the truth


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

chompy said:


> Oh come on... didn't you laugh just a little, I thought it was too funny  Micheal Moore just want to bring forward nothing but the truth


And the finest in high fat foods


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

Pablo said:


> AIDS was created as a biological weapon by the United States and Great Britain.


Huh???????


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

OOhh chompy that broke my heart when i heard about the black rhino.. It only angers me to no end..

I've been pipping up about that issue since i was little.


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

so i guess that the WWF wasn't kidding when they had the black rhino on their 10 most endangered species list. What a shame.


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## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

Chompy - I take it you haven't been in the GTA much lately. You should see the developers razing what was gorgeous farmland and countryside for massive single family dwellings where everyone will drive to the store in their SUVs. Canada does indeed have wilderness space, but we're doing our best to get rid of it.

Douglas Adams' Vogons had nothing on our developers. It sickens me every time I see it.



chompy said:


> On a positive note, I am so happy I live in Canada. So much wilderness, space... not so much Toronto but pretty much everywhere else . I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
> 
> I'm not crazy  , its just people can drive me sooo crazy. For a species that so intelligent, we are being very stupid. It could be that I miss the country too .


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

Westender said:


> Chompy - I take it you haven't been in the GTA much lately. You should see the developers razing what was gorgeous farmland and countryside for massive single family dwellings where everyone will drive to the store in their SUVs. Canada does indeed have wilderness space, but we're doing our best to get rid of it.
> 
> Douglas Adams' Vogons had nothing on our developers. It sickens me every time I see it.


I never said we as people were good conservationists, I said we have a beautiful country. I think we take it for grantid and it makes us horrible environmentalists. I took a drive to Barrie and saw some atrocities, it made me really angry. Canadians have to be the worst concervationists on the planet.


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## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

Yes, I think we are poor conservationists. Sadly, I also think it's because we think we have so much wonderful country that we deceive ourselves into thinking that our own selfishness will only be a drop in the gorgeous bucket. Plus we can always blame the US.

What is the catch phrase? Think globally, act locally...


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

Westender said:


> Yes, I think we are poor conservationists. Sadly, I also think it's because we think we have so much wonderful country that we deceive ourselves into thinking that our own selfishness will only be a drop in the gorgeous bucket. Plus we can always blame the US.
> 
> What is the catch phrase? Think globally, act locally...


The sad thing is that we still think we HAVE wilderness. But really, we don't. Every single square inch of canada has been touched by humans. But at least we have _some_ protected areas. The GTA is an atrocity.

I consider myself to be an environmentalist, but it really is hard to stay within my moral boundaries living in a city/country such as this.

And it is also hard to think environmentally in this country, given the government we apparently voted for. Jeez.


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

You people have been living in the concrete jungle for too long!

Take a flight out of Pearson to Victoria or Vancouver and then tell me that we have no wilderness left!


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

I don't know about the west coast but the east coast is doing great... maybe its because we have no money  . People who didn't vote, or people who voted in the current government shouldn't have a say in this matter


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## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

Who needs wilderness when you can have an artificial planted tank.


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## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

I've travelled through some of BC and Alberta, and I used to live in the Maritimes, so I've been to some pretty rugged places there. I lived in northern Quebec when I first came to Canada, and I've seen some pretty wild places there too. I've camped and canoed in a lot of parks in Ontario too. I think I've seen quite a lot of our wilderness, but there isn't a lot that I'd say people haven't hit yet. With ATVs and helicopters, less and less is there that is untouched. There are areas where people are scarce - next month I'll be flyfishing some mountaintop lakes in the Kootenays and the Selkirks that only see two or three people a year on them, but someone introduced trout to those lakes in the 1800's (or so I am informed) so I don't feel truly out in the wilderness there.

I enjoy it, and there are few places in the world that compare to an alpine meadow for me for beauty. I love our wilderness, but I also think that we're not the best at looking after it.

Just my opinion.


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

We do still have alot of wilderness but its disapearing at an alarming rate!!! JRS is right... I have been in the concret jungle for too long, Toronto is too big for me.

I have been admiring the urban wilderness though, we have a racoon that lives under us and a pair a peregrine falcons that hunt the pigeons around us. I love watching them, they're so acrobatic... and I hate pigeons. This is on the corner of yonge and bloor St... goes to show there is a bit of wilderness everywhere. I still like the wilderness that is green though  Sorry the video is crapy, but you get the idea.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Sad that the peregrine falcons are dropping like flies because they cant tell blue sky from a shiney bank building...

Really upsets me how many migrating birds smash into windows within the citys maze of buildngs... 
I think toronto is small, dirty... and very short on actual green space. I find it very very dissapointing..

Scarborough is just as bad... You cant take a walk through a ravine without seeing garbage bags stuck on everything and every type of crap hidden down in the vallies.. Not to mention that wonderful smell..

its hard to find a clean section of green without having to drive 5 or 6 hours out.. even more somtimes..


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## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

That's pretty cool Chompy. Ciddian - I don't think Toronto is actually all that bad - I've been to a number of worse places. There is a lot of green space to be had here, and there are pretty cool places you can go and experience nature, like many of the parks and ravines. I do wish that people would be more careful about how they throw stuff away, but I think the city's pretty clean. I like that our recycling is expanding and that the wet / dry waste seems to be working (except for highrises )

I'll bet there are a lot more animals that can be seen within the Toronto limits that people wouldn't think were there.

Bald eagles
Black Crowned Night Herons
Blue Birds
Great White Egrets
Opossums
Foxes
Salamanders (mostly red backed, but the odd Jefferson's / blue spotted)
Milk Snakes
Melanistic Garter Snakes
Coyotes
Beaver
Otter

There are a whole lot more, I'm sure. I'm pretty sure there are some rare plant species that can still be found around here too.

I'm considering starting a native species tank this fall, and I'll probably collect some cool fish species around here too. Has anyone done that? I don't collect any herps that I find. I did once catch a possum (well, it was sitting on my porch so the hunt wasn't that difficult) and bring it upstairs to show my wife. She was asleep in bed at the time, and she woke up to a hissing possum baring its teeth (they've got a lot of very sharp ones!) and for some reason, she didn't think it was nearly as cool as I did.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

kweenshaker said:


> Huh???????


Oh yeah. You thought it was naturally occuring?


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> Sad that the peregrine falcons are dropping like flies because they cant tell blue sky from a shiney bank building...
> 
> Really upsets me how many migrating birds smash into windows within the citys maze of buildngs...
> I think toronto is small, dirty... and very short on actual green space. I find it very very dissapointing..
> ...


Toronto actually has more "green" than 95% of the word's metropolis(es)


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Westender said:


> That's pretty cool Chompy. Ciddian - I don't think Toronto is actually all that bad - I've been to a number of worse places. There is a lot of green space to be had here, and there are pretty cool places you can go and experience nature, like many of the parks and ravines. I do wish that people would be more careful about how they throw stuff away, but I think the city's pretty clean. I like that our recycling is expanding and that the wet / dry waste seems to be working (except for highrises )
> 
> I'll bet there are a lot more animals that can be seen within the Toronto limits that people wouldn't think were there.
> 
> ...


Also:

Five lined skink
Rough Green Snake
Painted Turtle
Map Turtle
Deer
Tree Frogs
Praying Mantis
Pickerel Frogs
Common North American Toad

OH and I once caught a pygmy shrew. He was a juvie and extremely mellow for a W/C animal. I didn't want like rabies though so I released it immediately...

Have you considered keeping insects? Praying mantises make cool pets and can be bred in captivity for numerous generations...

If youre interested hit me up Ill get you some


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

Pablo said:


> Toronto actually has more "green" than 95% of the word's metropolis(es)


Toronto itself isn't the problem, its the sprawling burbs that are the problem... its out of control


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Maybe i've just been in this cruddy lil section of scarborough for way too long.. LOL

I do enjoy some ravines near my grans.. Mt. Pleasent and bayview area...

Compair that with the one at warden and st.clair and you'll see why i get dissapointed..

But i dunno.. The small vally park is nice at birchmount and st.clair..


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## Westender (Mar 24, 2006)

I think that sometimes we just need to look around with fresh eyes. I show my daughter something as simple as a moth, and she's amazed by it. Then I have a closer look, and I'm amazed.

Pablo - have you actually caught a 5-line in the GTA? I find tons of them north of the city, but I've never actually seen them here. And thanks for the mantid offer, but I made the (tough) decision to reduce the number of animals recently as I frequently don't have the time these days. I've actually reduced to only 2 tanks up and running at the moment. I can't give the time that any more would need. I'd also love to spot a rough green snake - it's on my list of to-dos.

Ciddian - are you on ttc or car? You should head down to the lakeshore like Leslie Spit. It takes a bit of walking, but it's a great place to hang out. Maybe we should include a list of great green spots here for GTA folks to chill in. 

Chompy - You are so right about the burbs. Sadly, I find that many of my friends are buying in those new developments for various reasons, but the top of them appears to be the greater affordability.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

thanks west..  I usually like to transit it when i go down town... I'll have to take some time down there 

I think a list of green spot is a great idea...

The old brick factory at off the don mills area has a beautiful bird sanctuary now.. Red wing black bird just go wild there. Its so defining in the spring its crazy.. 

I once spotted a yellow flicker and just last week saw a cedar wax wing for the first time.. :3


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## chompy (Mar 24, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> I once spotted a yellow flicker and just last week saw a cedar wax wing for the first time.. :3


I love flickers... and the cedar wax wing is my fav local bird. There are alot of both at my fimilies cottage, I love watching them.


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

Pablo said:


> Oh yeah. You thought it was naturally occuring?


I think that's just paranoia.


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

cedar waxwings in toronto? I've NEVER seen them here....they're one of my favourite native species 

There is a little family of Baltimore Orioles in Taylor Massey Creek....I often take my dogs down and watch the birds flit around.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oohh no way! I've never seen one...i'll have to take a stroll sometime. 

I hadnt seen a cedar wax wing all my life till then...I actually stopped and had a bit of a freak out with the bf.."Look look OMG!" Of course he thought i was nuts...but is very forgiving about my nerdyness... LOL

Some others i have spotted are ruby throated humming birds and killdeer around the birchmount st'clair area. Also have some sort of hawks...but not 100% sure of what kind. Turkey vultures.. and owls.. :3 
I am gunna put up a hummingbird feeder this year and see what comes around 

We have a lot of fox too along with suprisingly friendly skunks. ^^


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