After the Storm, Yarmouth, NS
Winter Storms
Henry D. Thoreau said about a winter storm:
" The snow lies warm as cotton or down upon the window-sill; the broadened sash and frosted panes admit a dim and private light, which enhances the snug cheer within. The stillness of the morning is impressive."
It is still today, but it sure wasn't a couple of days ago! We got almost a foot of snow on Sunday and into Monday, which I skied on both Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday this week saw us get almost an inch of rain, and so now except for a few traces the snow is gone.
This seems to be the new pattern here, perhaps intensified by climate change. Our snow storms in the past sometimes changed to rain, but often just enough to wet things down, and then we'd simply have a nice solid snow base.
These last few years, we seem to get some snow, and then like this week a major rainstorm follows soon after. With high winds and all the rain instead of a gentle snow event, we can actually observe the climate pattern changing.
Some may rejoice in the less snowy winter, but our fields, forests and watersheds are not built for that change. The animals, like particularly trout I would be thinking about, need that snow cover to ensure a good spring run-off to enable the watersheds to be full - in order to avoid the catastrophe that was last late Spring when it seemed all of the Province was on fire or so dry it could be at any time!
This is why climate action must be taken, and why it is up to each of us to think locally and do what we can to help maintain our climate's stability.
It's a real concern, and action must be universal, personal and soon!
