climate canary

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tinwhistler - 06 Jan 2007 22:42 GMT

Since this was the ADS' WOTY runner-up, it maybe should have its own
thread; see

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/climate_canary_1/

Catchword: climate canary
Part of Speech: n.

Quotation:
They are dubbed the "climate canaries"-the people destined to
become the first victims of world climate change. And as government
ministers sit down in Nairobi at this weekend's United Nations
Climate Conference, the people most likely to be wiped out by
devastating global warming will be only a few hundred miles away from
their deliberations. Those people, according to research commissioned
by the charity Christian Aid, will be the three million pastoralists of
northern Kenya, whose way of life has sustained them for thousands of
years but who now face eradication

[Article or Document Title: "3 Million Kenya Herdsmen Face
Extinction From Global Warming" (URL) Article, Document, Publication,
Web Site:
African News Dimension Publishing Location: Johannesburg, South Africa]

We're so used to "snow birds" down here in SoCal, I thought this was
another reference -- but it's a bird of a different feather, ay-wot?

Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

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Don Phillipson - 07 Jan 2007 00:17 GMT

> Since this was the ADS' WOTY runner-up, it maybe should have its own
> thread; see
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Catchword: climate canary
> Part of Speech: n.

. . .

> We're so used to "snow birds" down here in SoCal, I thought this was
> another reference -- but it's a bird of a different feather, ay-wot?

Miners up to approx. 1800 used to take caged
songbirds into mines where dangerous gases were
known present (e.g. coal mines.) I think the Davy
Safety Lamp made canaries unnecessary (because
the light changes colour when certain gases are
present.)

Signature

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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tinwhistler - 07 Jan 2007 01:14 GMT

[snip]

> Miners up to approx. 1800 used to take caged
> songbirds into mines where dangerous gases were
> known present (e.g. coal mines.) I think the Davy
> Safety Lamp made canaries unnecessary (because
> the light changes colour when certain gases are
> present.)

[snip]

Thanks. I seem to recall there was another context in which canaries
were used "like guinea pigs" but ... (I turn 70 in two months).

Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

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R H Draney - 07 Jan 2007 04:34 GMT

tinwhistler filted:

>> Miners up to approx. 1800 used to take caged
>> songbirds into mines where dangerous gases were
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>Thanks. I seem to recall there was another context in which canaries
>were used "like guinea pigs" but ... (I turn 70 in two months).

The merest mention of canaries as metaphors triggers STS in those of us who own
copies of the Police's album "Zenyatta Mondatta":

First to fall over when the atmosphere is less than perfect
Your sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

You say you want to spend the winter in Firenza
You're so afraid to catch a dose of influenza
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

Canary in a coalmine
Canary in a coalmine
Canary in a coalmine

Now if I tell you that you suffer from delusions
You pay your analyst to reach the same conclusions
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

....r

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"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when
he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely.

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tinwhistler - 08 Jan 2007 00:42 GMT

[snip]

> The merest mention of canaries as metaphors triggers STS in those of us who own
> copies of the Police's album "Zenyatta Mondatta":

[snip]

They apparently know about canaries even in Utah -- consider today's
(Salt Lake City) newspaper:

"...Although Utah still appears to lead the nation in its support for
Bush's war management, the drop below 50 percent should be a warning to
the Bush administration, said Kirk Jowers, director of the University
of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.
"I think Utah is like the canary in the coal mine for Bush," Jowers
said. "If he loses Utah, the state that has been most steadfast in
supporting him, he has to know it can't get much lower." ...
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4966131

Those coal mines can go pretty deep, lower, lower, and lower ....

Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

climate canary