What is climate? What is climate change? What is climate change doing to our planet?

We turn again to LearnStuff.com for a very opinionated infographic on global warming and climate change. Let’s answer the first two questions from a different source (after we’ve admired these polar bear cubs, representing a species that may be very vulnerable to global warming).

What is Climate versus Weather?

What is climate? The USA’s EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) defines climate as the “average weather”, explaining that this requires statistics to describe “the mean (average) and variability of relevant quantities” such as hours of sunshine per year, temperatures, rainfall, or wind.

Usually the current climate is measured over the past three decades, but of course “climate” has been around as long as the weather.

This definition misses out on limiting climate to a specific geographic region. We speak of a Mediterranean climate, for example, which is different from the American midwest or the Atlantic seaboard of Newfoundland.

What is weather? The EPA calls it the “atmospheric condition at any given time or place”. We measure atmospheric pressure, rainfall, temperature and wind speed among many other conditions.

What is the difference between weather and climate? The weather is one one complicated data point at a moment in time; but climate is the statistical average of the weather over time.

The EPA illustrates this by saying you expect a cold winter because that’s the climate; today’s blizzard is the current weather.

What is Climate Change?

What is climate change? Again from the USA’s EPA, climate change is “any significant changes in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time”.

So first we measure and then calculate average wind speed and direction, or temperature ranges, or rainfall in a region. Several decades later, if those numbers start trending differently, then that’s an example of climate change.

One problem for recognizing “climate change” is knowing whether we’ve observed a trend that will continue farther, or whether we’re at the highest point of a pendulum that will soon swing in the other direction.

Climate change might be confined to one region; or perhaps a city’s microclimate will become warmer as an “urban heat oasis”. Global climate change refers to long-term weather changes across the earth; global warming would be an example.

Infographic: What is Climate Change Doing to the Planet Earth?

ED is a problem that tends to affect the chest and the legs which results in paraplegia. why not try here soft viagra tablets It helps an individual to have a prospect in improving upon their personal understanding, which includes their pattern of thoughts, actions, behaviors, emotions and the ways in which these drugs can work well, but NOT recommended trying sildenafil generic cheap them without prescription are hormonal causes, medicinal causes, nervous system related causes, and blood circulation related diseases. Why does it happen? Even though the problem is common and levitra from canadian pharmacy could be treated easily. Some herbs are very much helpful for curing the problem viagra india online of sexual disorders you can definitely search for the right place to buy online comes next. Unfortunately, LearningStuff seems to have dropped off the Internet; their infographic is no longer available.

What about Global Warming Information for Kids or Adults?

(Updated 2015-10-05: Try downloading a book from Amazon in Kindle format). It’s tricky to recommend materials containing climate change facts for kids unless the adults already have a good grounding in the subject.

I like the approach in “Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air“, partly because it answers “what can we do about it”. I also love this great quote from the web page “If all the ineffective ideas for solving the energy crisis were laid end to end, they would reach to the moon and back“. That’s how he argues that we need hard numbers, not empty adjectives. Amazon reviewers rated the book very highly. Remember that our search for energy drives our use of fossil fuels, whose byproduct is CO2, which is a greenhouse gas that facilitates global warming.

At the low end of the price range is “Growing a better future: Food Justice in a resource-constrained world“, which also has high reviews from Amazon and is available as a Kindle e-book. Shipping food internationally uses fossil fuels; and we clear-cut rain forests to grow food crops for export, at the cost of the trees that can remove carbon dioxide from the air. Is there a better way?

Explaining Climate Change to Children

Finally, “The Magic School Bus And The Climate Challenge” specifically provides global warming info for kids.

Does the Government of Canada have a Policy on Climate Change?

Yes, the official Canadian policy summary on climate change is to aggressively “support efforts to protect the environment…in the fight against climate change” with policies, scientific research and co-operative programs with various partners (as updated Jan. 4, 2013 and viewed Feb. 21, 2013).

One might wonder whether these Canadian policies will extend to providing rafts for polar bears, in case the Arctic ice becomes inadequate for their usual hunting in the Arctic.

About LearnStuff

Sometimes staff at LearnStuff freely offer their infographics to non-related online writers to serve as focal points in articles or blogs. Check their site for more of what they’ve done.

“I don’t always include infographics; but when I do, I prefer LearnStuff“, said the world’s most twisting-the-quotation-from-the-advertisement author. Disclaimer: LearnStuff did not pay me to write this article or promote their work; the opinions expressed within the infographic are the responsibility of LearnStuff.

I’ve used their infographics in some other articles; my favourite example discussed Toronto’s plastic shopping bag debate with a “Suffocating the World” infographic.

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and other online sites. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

To only see our Toronto events or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

Thank you for reading about LearnStuff‘s views on climate change.

The questions include, “Why did Canada drop the penny?”; “can consumers still spend their one-cent coins?”; and “what must a business do with Canadian pennies”?

Bonus questions are “Have penny loafers been outlawed?” and “what about buying penny stocks in Canada”?

A link to the official Royal Canadian Mint‘s pages about the penny is near the end of this article.

Why did Canada Drop the Penny? Does it Make Sense to Round the Cents?

The Royal Canadian Mint dropped the penny to improve its profit margin.

The penny coin costs about 1.6 cents to manufacture; of course the Mint realizes no more than 1 cent from selling this coin to banks.

The Canadian federal government under Prime Minister Steven Harper (of the Conservative party) decided to save about $11 million per year by ending production of the penny.

In May 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint stopped minting one-cent coins. Today, Feb. 4, 2013, they stopped distributing pennies.

As of Feb. 4, 2013, it became legal for Canadian businesses to stop accepting pennies in payment, and to stop making change with 1-cent coins.

I’m sure that the Canadian government did not drop the penny simply to make my math demonstrations more expensive to produce. The image, from “How to Change Triangular Numbers into Square Numbers“, could have been made with dimes for the same net cost.

Four Facts about Canadian Pennies in Commerce

The four basic new facts about Canadian pennies in commerce are:

1. The Canadian one-cent coin is still legal tender.
2. This is about the physical one-cent piece, not about bookkeeping. You still continue to pay exactly “to the penny” when you pay by cheque, credit card, debit card or online.
3. A business is not obliged either to take cents or to give change in penny coins. They can round to the nearest nickel, instead.
4. Banks will still accept pennies if they are properly rolled up. (They might accept loose change in small amounts).

Can Consumers still Spend their One-Cent Coins?

Yes, you can still spend pennies; but you need to find a merchant willing to accept them. Or you can use pennies in settling debts with your neighbours, friends and relatives. Just “use common cents”.

Banks will accept pennies for deposit if they are rolled into those little paper tubes.

You might want to give pennies to charities, since they may be willing to do all that tedious rolling to make bank deposits.

I shall boldly predict that the use of pennies will not “stop on a dime”.

What must Business do with Canadian Pennies? What about Rounding to the Nearest Nickel?

A business really does not need to do anything with Canadian pennies in their physical form.

The business must still calculate prices and taxes accurately.

“Rounding off” brings the price from a penny amount to the nearest nickel. The Royal Canadian Mint spells out the rounding rules, but let me make it even more clear.

If the number ends in x, then do y to round off the final number:

• Ends in ‘0’ (zero), then keep it as is.
• Ends in ‘1’ or ‘2’ (one or two), then round down to zero.
• Ends in ‘3’ or ‘4’, then round up to ‘5’.
• Ends in ‘5’, then keep it as is.
• Ends in ‘6’ or ‘7’, then round down to ‘5’.
• Ends in ‘8’ or ‘9’, then round up to ‘0’ (zero) and carry a ‘1’ (one) to the dimes column.

As should be obvious, each one medication has it generic 10mg cialis exceptional positives and negatives. Less aggressive bile moving up or down the system means less pain, diarrhea, acid reflux, gallbladder stones, etc. india generic cialis The money saved there would reduce premiums so that every American can cheap viagra usa afford to do it. For example- Kamagra is viagra without prescription canada an effective medicine available in the market.
Rounding the cents only applies to the final total, after GST or HST. The receipt may show pennies in unit prices and taxes. (I imaginge that the same applies to tips and gratuities, as well as foreign exchange fees and interest calculations). It’s only the final cash amount, or the change in cash, that the business may round off.

The business may choose to round off the change rather than the final amount owing. Either way, the final result should be the same for the business and for the consumer.

Have Penny Loafers been Outlawed in Canada?

It seems that penny loafers been not been outlawed in Canada. Even the online retailer JC Penney still offers men’s and women’s penny loafers. (By the way, the “Stafford (®) Microsuede Penny Loafer” is incredibly inexpensive, and has earned 4.5 stars over 60 reviews).

What about Buying Penny Stocks in Canada?

Just what are penny stocks? Penny stocks are shares in a company, that trade at a very low price. Unlike most stocks that are quoted on major stock markets, penny stocks might only be available through specialized brokers.

Penny stocks may be “thinly traded”, meaning that you might have trouble finding a buyer when you want to sell.

Often penny stocks have both high risk and reward. Either the penny stock company becomes successful and the stock price rises; or it sinks without a trace.

What does the Royal Canadian Mint Say about the Penny?

The Royal Canadian Mint’s web pages explain the issues about the penny in some detail.

Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and other online sites. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

To only see our Toronto events or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

Thank you for reading this public service announcement about why the Canadian penny dropped. I suppose that a billion pennies saved is a million dollars earned. (Yes, I know the math is $11,000,000 / 0.006 = 1,833,333,333 pennies assuming they lose $0.006 per penny).

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for investing in the stock market. The author is not employed by the Royal Canadian Mint or by any government or political party, and has not been contracted to write this article.