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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, JANUARY 04, 2018 9THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 04, 20188 www.buy-wise.ca Visit our Showroom: 11 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown 905-873-0236 NEW LOC ATIO N Ann's Cartage Home, Office & Piano Movers 905-877-6183 Serving all of Ontario since 1968. Call for your Free Estimate Today! www.annscartage.ca NELLIS CONSTRUCTION LIMITED ROAD BUILDING EARTH MOVING R.R. #1 Acton 853-0960 McISAAC 781588 Ont. Ltd. Septic Pumping & Drain Service • Septic & Holding Tanks • Rejuvenation of leaching field • Baffle inspection & repairs • High-pressure drain cleaning Radio dispatched trucks Call Don or Mac 519-853-2790 Licensed by M.O.E. RR#4, Acton DOLLIVER SURVEYING INC. LegaL and Topographic SurveyS ACTON, ONTARIO Member: Association of Ontario Land Surveyors T: 519-853-2502 www.dolliver.com surveys@dolliver.com For Information, call Marie 519-853-0051 or email thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Specialized trades or services? Get noticed in our Community Corner! • Residential • Commercial • IndustrialOVERHEAD DOORS & ELECTRIC OPENERS SERVICE & INSTALLATION Call Dave The Door Guy 1.866.919.9945 www.dghdoors.com WalkThru GARAGE DOORS Sunday, Jan. 07 - 10:30 a.m. "What do you want?" John 1 v 35-51 Knox Presbyterian Church 44 Main St. N, Acton L7J 1W2 pccweb.ca/knoxacton 519-853-2360 • 519-853-5494 knoxacton@gmail.com Bistro & pub heavenon7@gmail.com 519-856-2693 A little bit of Heaven 67 Mill Street East, Acton & 27 Cork St. Guelph 519-853-1160 barrister & solicitor Ron Henry Serving the Community for over 40 Years Telephone/Fax 519-853-5615 Email: mcnabbgraphics@cogeco.net TERRY or JIM Office: 519-853-2748 1-800-358-9131 e-mail: service@aoneburnerservice.com Emergency Service Available For all your heating and plumbing needs HOME REPAIRS IMPROVEMENTS HANDYMAN SERVICES 2 0 + Y e a r s E x p e r i e n c e Tiling • Undermount Lighting Plumbing • Trim Carpentry etc. CALL MIKE Cell: 905-467-3011 Rockwood: 519-856-0020 Quality Craftmanship & Service pmsq2@hotmail.com 905-873-4244 HARDWOOD FLOORS SANDING & FINISHING ACTON, ON L7J 2L9 3rd Generation INDOOR/OUTDOOR STORAGE SECURE FACILITY Call for availability 8572 Hwy 7, Rockwood 519-856-2221 Aldo Braida B.A. L.L.B. Barrister & Solicitor 69 Mill St. E Acton 28 Paisley St. Guelph Phone: 519-824-2242 Fax :519-824-3049 Carin Pelka Licenced Paralegal Specializing in Workplace Safety & Insurance Board - Claims/Revenue 69 Mill Street East Acton, ON By appointment only 519-853-2091 We handle all insurance work • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass • Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905)873-1655 Community Corner By: David SuzukiSCienCe matterSScienceMatters By David Suzuki A year ago, we revisited the 1992 "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity." Signed by a major- ity of Nobel laureates in sciences at the time and more than 1,700 leading scientists worldwide, the document warned, "Human beings and the natural world are on a col- lision course." It called for a new ethic that encompasses our responsibility to ourselves and nature and that recognizes our dependence on Earth and its natural systems. It also called for stabilizing human population through "improved social and economic conditions, and the adoption of effective, vol- untary family planning." Now, 25 years later, we've added two bil- lion people, a 35 per cent increase. Despite progress in stabiliz- ing the stratospheric ozone layer, all the other problems scientists looked at in 1992 have worsened. On the declaration's 25th anni- versary in November, more than 15,000 scientists from around the world signed a new warning -- "the most scientists to ever co-sign and formally support a published journal article." The BioScience article states, "By failing to adequately limit popula- tion growth, reassess the role of an economy rooted in growth, reduce greenhouse gases, incentivize re- newable energy, protect habitat, restore ecosystems, curb pollution, halt defaunation, and constrain in- vasive alien species, humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperilled bio- sphere." It raises concerns about climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from "burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricul- tural production -- particularly from farming ruminants for meat consumption." And it points out, "we have unleashed a mass extinc- tion event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years, wherein many cur- rent life forms could be annihilated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century." Some have criticized the warn- ing for being overly alarmist, but the situation is alarming, and we aren't doing enough to avert catas- trophe. Where will we be 25 years from now? It won't be chance that determines our future. It will be the choices we make today. There's a hint of hope. The scientists note that co-operative government actions resulted in a "rapid global decline in ozone- depleting substances," and that global poverty and hunger rates have dropped. Investing in edu- cation for girls and women has contributed to falling birth rates in many regions, deforestation has been reduced in some countries, and the renewable-energy sector has been growing rapidly. We can make positive changes if we co-operate, but it will take action from all of humanity. We can't leave it to governments, es- pecially as so many in thrall to the fossil fuel industry are fail- ing to work for citizens. As the scientists argue, "Sustainability transitions come about in diverse ways, and all require civil-society pressure and evidence-based ad- vocacy, political leadership, and a solid understanding of policy instruments, markets, and other drivers." The warning offers many solu- tions, many policy-based. They include protecting habitat on land, water and air; recognizing and maintaining the important services intact ecosystems pro- vide; restoring forests and other "native plant communities"; re- introducing native species "to restore ecological processes and dynamics"; using policy to protect species from poaching and illegal trade; reducing food waste and promoting a shift to more plant- based diets; reducing fertility rates through "access to education and voluntary family-planning servi- ces"; promoting nature education and appreciation; shifting invest- ment and spending to "encourage positive environmental change"; fostering advances in green tech- nologies and renewable energy while eliminating subsidies to fossil fuels; altering the econ- omy to reduce wealth inequality "and ensure that prices, taxation, and incentive systems take into account the real costs which con- sumption patterns impose on our environment"; and "estimating a scientifically defensible, sustain- able human population size for the long term while rallying na- tions and leaders to support that vital goal." In short, if we take the urgency to heart, there are solutions. Although government action and policy are crucial, so too is citizen engagement. "With a groundswell of organized grass- roots efforts, dogged opposition can be overcome and political leaders compelled to do the right thing. It's also time to re-examine and change our individual behav- iors, including limiting our own reproduction (ideally to replace- ment level at most) and drastically diminishing our per capita con- sumption of fossil fuels, meat, and other resources." As a new year begins, we can and must do everything possible to shift course. If we wait another 25 years, it will be too late. We ignore urgent global warnings at our peril