The winter that wasn't

By Inderjit Deogun
For my whole life, winter has been a guarantee. I wait for it with bated breath and every year it arrives in all its glory. Until now. Winter has been all but non-existent for the first time in my life. Not once this season have I awoken to a winter wonderland as I have done so many times before. Instead, I’ve been greeted by grass that doesn’t quite know what colour it’s supposed to be — brown or green or some unseasonal mixture of the two.
I miss the Canadian winters that marked my youth; the stillness that only freshly fallen snow can bring, the whiteness that unifies our vast landscape, and how snow can magically silence the world around you. As someone born in January, the winter months resonate with me and are an integral part of my Canadian-ism.

Photo credit:  Simren Deogun

The truth is, the winters of my youth have been disappearing for years. Winter has changed shape with snow becoming a memory rather than a reality. Instead, a prolonged fall has taken winter’s place. Even with my knowledge and understanding of environmental issues, I have been shocked when day after day I look out my window only to see that there is no snow.
The warnings of climate change are no longer an invisible phenomenon that I read about in newspapers or on the Internet. It doesn’t solely refer to the melting polar ice caps in the Arctic or the drought-ravaged countries of Africa. I have realized that the reach of climate change has no geographic prejudice; it has quite literally hit home, my home. Climate change is now on my front porch. I see it everyday in unseasonably warm temperatures, in birds that have not flown south and in dustings of snow that melt within hours.
Bearing witness to these changes in our Canadian winter has only strengthened my resolve to take action. My resolve to do something proactive that makes a difference, whether it be using public transportation or volunteering for environmental organizations. As small as these acts may seem, I know that when I’m asked if they matter, the answer is simple enough: Of course. They matter to me, to like-minded individuals, to future generations and to our planet.
There are some things that are worth fighting for. I just happen to know our Canadian winters are one of them.
 
Want to learn more about WWF’s work on climate and energy, or show your support for the planet? Pledge to be a participant in Earth Hour, and shut off your lights at 8:30 pm on Saturday March 31.