In that image in the article, what's the blue substrate layer that can be seen in the broken bridge?
There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
431–440 of 477 posts
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#432Earlier quoted context omitted.
> west of Timmins Yep. Sudbury to Kenora is some lonely road with a few “no services next 150km” stretches
When I was young and poor and crazy, I did the Greyhound trip to/from the GTA to the prairies a couple times and that is just the most insane stretch of highway ever, so mind boggling how long it takes. Lakes and rocks and lakes and rocks and lakes and rocks and trees and rocks and lakes... Sleeping pills, muscle relaxants, reading the entire Dune series from beginning to end, and waking up finding that you've fallen…
I think pbourke is talking about roads substantially North of that. There are bush roads going west from Timmins all the way to Wawa, there is absolutely nothing there but trees, and Greyhounds don't drive there, in fact the only thing you find there that drives is hunters and logging machinery.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#433Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably a better metric for us average people is to ask what produces most of our personal emissions. Yes, won’t correct the problem. But will give people a sense of agency instead of yet another way to feel helpless. It’s going to take an “all of the above, all hands on deck” response.
But you have to focus your efforts to get the biggest results. In this case I suspect only government can solve the problem (because someone’s going to have to change or end entire industries). So the best use of our energy might trying to be get an effective government in place.
I think about this a lot, and it seems to me that the amount effort it would take to get an effective government in place is roughly equal to the amount of effort it would take for people to make individual changes to their habits and consumption (which in turn, presumably, would cause industry and governments to change). In fact, they seem like essentially the same thing in that they both require the same kind of individual effort and engagement.
Right now, all most people do is vote (if they even bother) or maybe make donations, which really doesn't seem to be enough. Voting is important, but it doesn't have much impact if the same kinds of candidates keep getting elected, which is largely due to dysfunction in the electoral system, at least in the U.S. (and probably elsewhere, but I don't know enough about other countries to say).
Similarly, all most people do is recycle, which definitely isn't enough, given a lot (most?) of what gets put in the recycling bin doesn't get recycled, due in part to both lack of financial incentive as well as contamination from non-recyclables (confusing rules and general lack of care apparently).
I would like to think we could vote in a government that's focused on progress rather than partisan power struggles, but I don't think that's likely to happen any time soon, if ever. It would require a level of engagement that I just don't see happening.
I'd also like to think that we could change our habits on a mass scale and demand change through social and market forces, but in a similar way, I don't see that happening either. Their are just too many economic and cultural forces acting against progress.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#434Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's hope it migrates further south and relieves some of the California drought. Any meteorologists have a sense of the weather patterns at play here?
According to this meteorologist “Drier-than-average winter still most likely outcome for most of California” https://weatherwest.com/archives/11748
Average winter seems a distant memory in Cali.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to this meteorologist “Drier-than-average winter still most likely outcome for most of California” https://weatherwest.com/archives/11748
Average winter seems a distant memory in Cali.
2017 and 2019 were big Sierra snowpack years, double average. I don't mean this to be a comment on long term trends.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#436For just a bit of context/anecdata, I'm talking to my brother who lives in Vancouver and he wasn't even aware this was a problem. The road closure[0] on hwy 1 near Abbotsford/Chilliwack is a good one hour drive away from Vancouver core[1]. So while it sounds noteworthy for an entire city be technically flooded in, unless you were driving to the boonies, you're probably not actually impacted in any meaningful way. He…
I live in Vancouver - my coworkers and family were very aware of this, watching footage online and exclaiming at the brutal nature of the weather and landslides we experienced yesterday. Never seen this many roads closed in BC in my nearly 4 decades living here.
If you don't mind two international border crossings, there actually is a way to drive from Vancouver to the rest of Canada.
For example: https://imgur.com/a/MAqFSHd
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#437It is disappointing to see some people thinking this is not a big deal. Please don't spread that kind of misinformation. We had multiple highways closed over southern BC, many roads down, power outages, municipalities evacuated, and tons of homes flooded in towns and cities all over southern BC. This is affecting a hell of a lot more than whether we can get to the rest of the country by road. There is almost no one w…
it’ll be fine
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#438Earlier quoted context omitted.
> we get heaps of produce from California Are the prices in line with what those products would cost in the US (e.g. WA state)? I was under the impression that the prices in BC were lower, so now I'm wondering if the price adjustment to account for local markets is significant or not, or if I misremembered completely.
Last time I was in New York was a good few years ago, but I was very surprised how much more expensive supermarket food was than in the UK, like 3x more. In a huge country with lots of farmland like the US with less stringent food regulations in theory food should be cheaper so I’m curious as to what causes this price difference.
New York is a crazy expensive city and most of the stuff people want to eat comes California or Latin America. It's quite a bit further to travel compared to i.e. importing from North Africa or Europe.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in Vancouver - my coworkers and family were very aware of this, watching footage online and exclaiming at the brutal nature of the weather and landslides we experienced yesterday. Never seen this many roads closed in BC in my nearly 4 decades living here.
If you don't mind two international border crossings, there actually is a way to drive from Vancouver to the rest of Canada. For example: https://imgur.com/a/MAqFSHd
Much more difficult at the moment, due to COVID.
Re: There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada
#440For just a bit of context/anecdata, I'm talking to my brother who lives in Vancouver and he wasn't even aware this was a problem. The road closure[0] on hwy 1 near Abbotsford/Chilliwack is a good one hour drive away from Vancouver core[1]. So while it sounds noteworthy for an entire city be technically flooded in, unless you were driving to the boonies, you're probably not actually impacted in any meaningful way. He…
I’m a Vancouverite, and this is a pretty narrow, short sighted view. Sure, some people aren’t very impacted, but a tonne of people are. Lots of people who need to travel around the province but can’t, who were travelling and can’t return home, who can’t ship things in or out, whose basements are flooded, etc.
For just one story, my wife’s boss was travelling in the interior (drove there). Doesn’t have his passport because he wasn’t planning to leave the country. Is now stranded, trying to decide whether to abandon his car and fly home, so he can get back to the small business he runs, or try to wait it out so he can drive home in god knows how long. Tonnes of people facing impacts like this, or much worse.