The Globe and Mail's Report on Business 25th anniversary issue this past Saturday contained a two page spread by John Daly comparing photos by photographer Elizabeth Jones of downtown Toronto on May 21, 2009 and May 21, 1984.
Here are the photos:
2009 on top, 1984 below. The article pointed out all the new buildings that have gone up. Toronto sure has changed. But look at Toronto Island. Notice how much greener the trees are compared to the grass in 2009 vs. 1984. Nature has changed too.
These pictures don't prove anything about global warming, but it is interesting to note that the foliage is quite a bit more advanced in 2009 compared to 1984. This colour change is amplified by the fact that it's spring and the colour of trees changes rapidly during May. If it's a couple of degrees warmer, on average, then everything grows something like ten days earlier. Look carefully at nature and you'll be able to pick out the signs of global warming.
And yes, in case you were wondering, according to the National Climate Data and Information Archive, in Toronto, March, April and May 2009 were on average about 3 degrees warmer than those respective months in 1984.
