Our Pond - Sandyland Ponds, Port Maitland, Nova Scotia
Winter is Coming
The calendar says it’s still fall, but the weather around these parts lately has been more wintry than autumnal! Nova Scotia gets its share of snow and cold weather – but our normal high at this time of year is about 5° C, and today, for the second day in a row, the temperature struggled to reach 0° ! The pond in front of our house is beginning to freeze and the geese and ducks are suddenly anxious as to where the open water will be!
On the other hand, the feeder birds are here in abundance, thankful for the supplementary handout. We’ve had a Baltimore Oriole, some Evening Grosbeaks and dozens of Goldfinches, and three different species of hawks, drawn to the yard by the smaller birds. They have to eat too!
Now, I note in the USA that the Administration has chosen their new nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency, and he is a former coal industry lobbyist, who also worked for a climate change denying Representative in Congress. Famously, this Representative brought a snowball into the House and said in essence “So much for global warming”. While funny, it’s also a bit sad. You see, the evidence is very, very clear. Global warming is real, and notwithstanding our cold streak, the planet will warm more unless we do something. That same US Administration essentially pooh-poohed a very dire scientific report from their own agencies – a report that warned of more warming and the cost to the US, and world, economy.
So, because we have a cold streak, does that mean the world is safe from climate change? Well, also yesterday and today, while we had temperatures about 5°c colder than normal for two days, Australia has had a 2° warmer than normal MONTH in November. Queensland, in particular has been much warmer and drier than normal.
In short, we have to remember it is global climate change. Just because one place has a couple of days of good snowballing weather a tad early doesn’t mean the world is cooling. A one or two day trend, or daily events, are weather, climate is over a longer period of time and can be compared year over year.
And the trend for the entire planet is up, by a significant amount, year over year – and way up in the last decade. Here’s hoping people can absorb this information and act on it – the planet’s future depends on it!
