George Walters Blog

Cold
A couple of evening snow showers; otherwise, very cold with clearing. Winds from the NNW at 7 .
Low Tonight -23 °F maybe a bit colder.  Sooooo stay warm and keep them home fires burning. Talk Soon

Environmental scientists and waste industry officials are warning that a massive shift to compact fluorescent light bulbs will lead to far more mercury contamination than has been widely supposed.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use mercury and heated gas to generate light, in contrast to traditional incandescent bulbs, which generate light by heating up a wire filament. The fluorescent bulbs have been touted as an important step in reducing energy consumption, because they use only half as much energy as incandescent bulbs and last nearly seven times as long.
And while it has always been known that the mercury in the bulbs is a dangerous neurotoxin, it has been generally assumed that the bulbs are safe, since consumers are only exposed to the chemical if the bulb breaks.
If a bulb does break, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises a complex, 11-step process for safely disposing of it. The room should be aired out for 15 minutes to dispose of any fumes, then the bulb should be picked up with gloves, placed in a double bag and disposed of as toxic waste. Duct tape should be used to do clean up residue, never a vacuum cleaner. The next time the area is vacuumed, the bag must be disposed of immediately.
“It’s kind of ironic that on the one hand, the agency is saying, ‘Don’t worry, it’s a very small amount of mercury.’ Then they have a whole page of [instructions] how to handle the situation if you break one,” said Ellen Silbergeld of Johns Hopkins University, editor of the journal Environmental Research.

TOTAL OF 15 TO 20 CENTIMETRES OF SNOW BY THIS AFTERNOON.
SNOWFALL WARNING FOR NORTH BAY – NIPISSING. SNOW HEAVY AT TIMES WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING ACROSS THE NORTH BAY – NIPISSING REGION AS AN ALBERTA CLIPPER MOVES THROUGH FROM THE US MIDWEST. COLD SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ARE PICKING UP ADDITIONAL MOISTURE FROM NORTHERN LAKE HURON AND ICE FREE AREAS OF GEORGIAN BAY AND AS A RESULT ARE ENHANCING THE SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE ALBERTA CLIPPER. THE SNOW WILL COME TO A QUICK END BY THIS AFTERNOON AS A SHARP ARCTIC COLD FRONT RACES THROUGH IN THE WAKE OF THE ALBERTA CLIPPER. TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 15 TO 20 CM ARE EXPECTED BY THE TIME THE SNOW ENDS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR DANGEROUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS AND WHITEOUT CONDITIONS FROM BURSTS OF HEAVY SNOW AND ACCUMULATING SNOW. TRAVEL PLANS SHOULD BE ALTERED ACCORDINGLY. WIND CHILLS FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHERN ONTARIO. AN ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDING INTO NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO HAS CAUSED WINDS TO DIMINISH TO 10 KM/H OR LESS ACROSS THE DISTRICT EARLY THIS MORNING. WITH LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED TODAY UNDER THE RIDGE EXTREME WIND CHILLS WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE. HOWEVER EXTREME WIND CHILLS MAY RETURN AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY AS WINDS PICK UP ONCE AGAIN IN ADVANCE OF YET ANOTHER BITTERLY COLD ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SLIDING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PRAIRIES. WIND CHILL WARNINGS MAY HAVE TO BE ISSUED AGAIN LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT FOR LARGE PARTS OF NORTHERN ONTARIO AS A RESULT.