Published December 17, 2012
by iris_author
There was once a time when a love for the winter season was tied with a sense of Canadian identity. Winter was exciting because it was that chance to break out the skates, find a sweet hill to toboggan on and build the most stylish snowman in the neighbourhood. While this affinity for the season may still be true for some places in Canada it seems as if the love is just no longer the same in Toronto. We hear it everyday when we turn on the news. If the temperature is above seasonal the weather person will declare it “a great day!” (without the slightest reference to climate change). But if the temperature is in fact seasonal then better take a seat, because they've got bad news for you!
I've already stopped watching the weather channel over my frustration for this attitude but it’s getting harder to escape. The other night it snowed a bit in Toronto and my newsfeed on facebook was overtaken by status updates along the lines of: “Go away old man winter” and “Can global warming hurry up already and stop making it so cold!” While these statements may seem harmless, it serves to reinforce a hideous culture that trivializes the seriousness of climate change and is quick to pin any person conscious of the issues as a radical, treehugger, crazy, whatever.
We shouldn’t have to wait for events like Hurricane Sandy to be our wake-up call. We are living in climate change and the alarms should have been ringing years ago. For me, the snowfall the other day was comforting given the fact that there was hardly any snow last year and in 2009, for the first time in 162 years, there was no snowfall at all in November!
In short, I think it’s time for us to stop and embrace the winter season again. Maybe then we can be able to turn our disappointment for what is sure to be another year of record breaking mild temperatures into outrage, the kind of outrage that demands City Council keep their ban on plastic bags, pushes for bike lanes and advocates for a meaningful long-term energy strategy.
Will this change in attitude solve all environmental problems? Probably not. But it’s a step (amongst many) that should be taken to start a real adult conversation about important issues.
By: Enrique Miranda
Posted in: Blogs | Students Speak
