Lewis Poulin

Former Sudbury environmentalist Lewis Poulin studies high impact weather for Environment CanadaNorthernLife.ca - Greater Sudbury on the Web
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Former Sudbury environmentalist Lewis Poulin studies high impact weather for Environment Canada
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Smog is the passion of Lewis Poulin.
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When he lived here he was well known for his environmental concerns and was a regular contributor to Northern Life some 10 years ago.He also worked before that at Science North as a scientist.

Lewis Poulin was often a source for Northern Life stories on the environment.He now lives in Quebec and is one of the people who keeps an eye on tornadoes, hurricanes and snow storms.

Poulin now works for Environment Canada at the Canadian Meteorological Centre at the Dorval Airport in Quebec.He works at transforming raw weather data into models that regional weather offices across Canada can use for weather forecasts."We calculate what the future state of the weather may be.Thanks to better computers and better data collection we are getting a clearer view of what weather we can expect."Poulin says the centre is focused on high impact weather-smog, extreme cold, heat waves and flooding, weather that costs individuals and the Canadian economy a lot of money."When many weather stations, including Sudbury's, were closed after some budget cuts in the 1990s, Environment Canada thought their resources were better focused on weather that impacts most on Canadians such as severe weather events.That way public service agencies can be better prepared in advance to keep homeless shelters, for example, open longer in cases of extreme heat and cold," he says.Poulin wouldn't comment on weather this year's heat wave has anything to do with climate change where hotter weather causes more smog alerts."That's not what I do at work but in my personal life I am still very concerned about pollution, especially with air pollution, specifically smog," he says.Poulin, his partner Linda Lines and two children, son Adrien, 7, and Aimee, 11, do their part for the environment.
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estimated $8,000 a year, enough to allow Linda to work part-time and be there for the kids," says Poulin.
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What's more, Poulin has designed a poster that calculates the ecological impact on air quality that driving a car has, especially on smoggy days.He designed a poster for a meteorological conference in Vancouver in early June.It calculates our ecological footprint for our air. "You use this Excel spreadsheet to plug in, say your vehicle engine size and by using the rpm of your motor, it calculates how much smog you are responsible for on that day. "So the next time there is a smog alert you would realize that you are responsible for some of that dirty air," he says.Poulin says he hopes that schools, from public schools to university might use his Excel spreadsheet for calculating their ecological footprint.To access this poster e-mail Lewis at lewis.poulin@ec.gc.ca. Poulin also compiled a CD in 2001 of environmental songs entitled Brother Sun Sister Moon to go with his long-time children's act called Mr. Ozone. It contains 12 songs plus six instrumentals with titles such as Planet's in the Oven, Atmosphere Song and Solar Energy Forever. The CD is available at $15 each (or two for $25) plus $3 postage and handling by sending payment to Lewis Poulin, 107 General Brock, Roxboro Que. H8Y 1H9.
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Poulin and Lines miss their friends in Sudbury.