Canary In The Coal Mine!

“Your house is not an asset; it is a liability”- Russell Cage.

The history of the idiom “Canary in the coal mine” is intriguing. Coal miners, while doing one of the riskiest jobs in the world, are faced with a hazardous work environment. One of the many dangers these miners encounter at work is annihilating poisonous carbon monoxide fumes. So Scott Haldane, the father of oxygen therapy, recommended: “canaries” (birds) to detect colourless and odourless carbon monoxide in the coal mines. The Canaries are more sensitive to carbon monoxide than humans and thus are good early detectors of this poisonous gas. If the canaries fell ill or died, it would warn the miners to evacuate.

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Therefore, “Canary in the coal mine” became an adage for impending danger or trouble due to deteriorating health or welfare.

In today’s “globalised” world, the canary in the coal m…