I attended the Toronto Ski Show (2018) to see what is new in the world of outdoor sports. One of the most unique features I found was the booth called Protect Our Winters or POW www.protectourwinters.org. The Canadian subsidiary can be found at www.protectourwinters.ca .This winter advocacy organization has some major industry players trying to engage the outdoor community to get involved with combating climate change. I have seen top tier garment companies wearing their labels to support the fight against climate change. As I have been writing in many of my posts, we can definitely see the change in our mountain ecosystems. Warmer Decembers, and unpredictable snow makes the snow sports more unstable than ever before. The large rains in the summer are caused by greater humidity caused by the evaporation of the ice caps and the warming of the oceans. The urbanization of farmlands has reduced the ability for the rainwater to be absorbed causing large floods in the urban areas. The insurance company claims are going into new levels of costs.
Canada is increasing in temperature at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. The reason is the high use of natural gas to heat our homes and buildings. In addition the general large carbon footprint that Canadians have. Vancouver has started to limit the use of natural gas in new construction development.
The question is how do we slow the climate change and global warming pattern. As skiers we drive up to the mountains in our big SUV trucks and we drive great distances for it. Sometimes we fly in helicopters to get the best skiing. I thought some little change ideas is what we need to get started on. One thing is to eat less red meat. Cattle consume a lot of land and large parts of forests are being destroyed to provide pasture. Large parts of the Amazon have been destroyed to make pastures for cattle. This reduces the amount of oxygen the jungle produces and the amount of CO2 it can cleanse. Reducing red meat is another healthy way to improve your diet and reduce chances for heart conditions. See the movie forks over knives on youtube. Another easy idea is to consume less stuff. Plastics are non bio degradable and are choking our oceans. I have been told they will be dead in 50 years. Every disposable plastic bag, container and electronics eventually finds their way into the ocean. Try to drive less and use active transportation more. Try cycling to work once per week. By reducing time in vehicles we can reduce the amount of fossil fuel burned and increase exercise to reduce rising blood sugars and diabetes, which has become an epidemic. The amount of sugar in north american foods is horrendous.
From my recent journey to Norway, the world's happiest country (and possibly wealthiest) I have seen their country embrace electric vehicles, and an appreciation for family hiking in the outdoors. One of the greatest contributions to humanity that the Vikings (from Norway) gave was the invention of skiing as transportation in the winter. They were outdoors men (and pirates) that embraced the winter with all its snow. Norway is now on target to reduce its carbon emissions below the required threshold. They have the highest electric car usage, and the most incentives to move people onto more sustainable modes of transportation. They also rely on geothermal heat more than natural gas for heating their homes.
It is your time to find your inner Viking and Protect our Winters too.
Skal,
The Adventure Guy
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