Currently in Toronto — June 17th, 2022
The weather, currently.
Calmer and cooler for your Friday. The very active weather will continue to push east along a vigorous cold front. That will also sweep out all the heat and humidity. Expect mainly sunny conditions early Friday morning, with a wake-up temperature of 20°C. There will be just some scattered clouds for the remainder of the day. The high 25 and the UV index will be 8 or very high. You will certainly also notice and maybe appreciate the NW wind at 40-60km/h that will help set up a very comfortable evening with no AC required.
Friday Night: A few clouds with a low of 11°C
Side Note: In commemoration of the upcoming Juneteenth holiday we will be suspending our daily newsletters this Sunday and Monday.
What you need to know, currently.
We have a story up today from Anuradha Varanasi on the colonial history of pine trees in the Himalayas, the ecological problems they present, and the way pine needles could be used as a climate solution.
“Since the late 1800s, under British rule, native oak and deodar forests were razed for more than a century to build India’s extensive railway network and for other commercial purposes,” Varanasi writes. “For procuring resin in the 20th century, the British opted for large-scale pine plantations instead of re-planting native oak trees, which are resistant to wildfires. Not only do pine trees grow rapidly, but they also deplete groundwater, modify soil properties, and prevent the growth of other native trees, shrubs, and grass."
"'The pine forests act as bombs waiting to explode by the smallest of spark,' said Pavan Vyas, a fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & Environment (ATREE). 'Even when dry pine needles are lit in the form of controlled burns, they spread rapidly owing to the accumulation of pine needles on the forest floor as thick as 24 centimeters, causing forest fires which are hard to tackle without adequate infrastructure.'"
Now, the needles are being collected by groups of women and converted to bio-pellets.