The past two Montreal winters have been significantly chillier than average, leading the usual denial-bravado chorus of "heck it's just an old fashioned Canadian winter," and "duh, it's winter in Canada."
The winter of 2013-14 was bitterly cold in Quebec, certainly the worst since the record-breaking coldie in 93-94. This winter is slated to be much colder than average as well. January had average temperatures 1.5 C below norms and February will duplicate that trend.
What can we do about it? Well fleeing to warmer climes has become considerably less economically feasible since the Canadian dollar has plummeted to 78 cents, so time to think outside of the box.
It's time to examine the scientific possibility that climate change has permanently sentenced us to colder climes.
The increasingly-cold-Quebec-winters-are-coming theory was brought to my attention by a scientist at Environment Canada about a decade ago.
I had optimistically suggested that upcoming global warming might have some major upside for Quebec.
He broke the news that Montreal - one of the cities most in need of an injection of warmth - might not benefit at all from climate change, in fact this part of Canada will get colder weather according to certain forecast models.
I recall his voice sounded pained and apprehensive when told me about these models promising colder weather for Quebec.
The conversation ended soon after without any further prodding about this suddenly-awful subject, just too horrible to ponder.
The winter of 2013-14 was bitterly cold in Quebec, certainly the worst since the record-breaking coldie in 93-94. This winter is slated to be much colder than average as well. January had average temperatures 1.5 C below norms and February will duplicate that trend.
Cold weather is burdensome in every way. Cold costs more to heat. Cold can lead people to lose limbs and die. Cold discourages economic activity. Cold makes life unpleasant and the outdoors inhospitable.
But you knew that already.
The idea that we're doomed to colder winters and possibly colder summers too could be a major game-changer, a Black Swan for this part of the world and lead to a variety of negative outcomes.
For those unfamiliar with the Black Swan phenomenon, Nassim "Didn't You See That Coming?" Taleb's celebrated book reminded us that unexpected things occur even when we don't think they will. These unforeseen transformative events hit even though common-sensical folk have dismissed the possibility.
What can we do about it? Well fleeing to warmer climes has become considerably less economically feasible since the Canadian dollar has plummeted to 78 cents, so time to think outside of the box.
I've long been a passionate advocate for the construction of a 17 km causeway between Newfoundland and Labrador. Jamming up the Strait of Belle Isle would not just link a province, it would also stop the flow of cold water and ice that brings frigid temperatures to Montreal. One estimate suggests that such an operation would raise the temperatures of Montreal by about four degrees, while another speculated that it wouldn't help at all..
Authorities should also consider researching whether an artificial mountain range north or west of the city might break some harsh winter wind blasts.
There's always the cover-downtown-with-a-bubble solution that was tossed about in the 80s.
Can anybody stop this silly trend of parka-as-giant-vag thing?
ReplyDeleteTo reverse Confederation a la 1949, if joined by a causeway, Canada ( and Quebec ) could then become part of NFLD and pass on all their financial woes to a neighbour????
ReplyDeleteOwe Canada? Owe Quebec? Owelympic Stadium? minus the concrete inspector.
"The true east strong and rich" "Nos front est ceint de fleurons glorieux".
A dome over the city ( any city ) might not be such a great idea in an olfactory sense?
What about summer and the cicadas and birds coming back, and the bees?
The humidity.
Gosh one gets bitter when one gets old, and not just from the weather.
Thank You.
15 degrees in Vancouver today!
ReplyDeleteNo snow only rain and warm.
You don't have to shovel rain.
"Cold makes life unpleasant and the outdoors inhospitable"
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that does the same thing (and in a worse way) is a late July day with a 45º humidex.
Cold? When's the last time Montreal experienced a temperature of -30 C? It was about 10-20 years ago. Go back to the 50's and 60's (and earlier), a few -30 days happened every year.
ReplyDeleteThe days may be getting colder, but the nights are warmer.
Don't have the interest to find and delve thru statistics re weather, but, it SEEMED that winters were longer and much colder back in the Forties and Fifties than they are now?
ReplyDeleteI pointed out the snow depth was always over my head, before I went to Iona, and was reminded I was only 5 years old.
Hmmmm.
Thank You.
Our perception of winter changes as we age.
ReplyDeleteTo a child's eyes, winter is a playground, so as children we don't "worry" about severe winter as much as adults do because, for one reason, those who are employed must often battle traffic every day to and from work.
Thankfully, by the time we reach retirement age we can once again worry less about winter so long as we remain healthy and able to cope with those often slick, icy sidewalks.
Walking briskly in sub-zero weather is also quite a different experience than having to stand outside seemingly forever to wait for a bus.
Whenever I hear people say, "Montreal's snowstorms are nothing like they used to be.", they have probably forgotten that the snow banks back then were usually taller than the height of a child, therefore snow depth is entirely relative.
Indeed, looking back through newspaper archives, one can discover fascinating descriptions of historic Montreal blizzards and how we managed to get around without any kind of mechanized snow removal equipment--something we take entirely for granted today. Even as late as the 1930's, gangs of unemployed men were routinely rounded up and handed shovels to clear the streets. Some of these men even went on strike to protest when the public works department began to use motorized plows and snowblowers.
If you lived "way out in the suburbs", you could be snowed-in for days following a major blizzard, so you definitely had to stock up with food and other supplies beforehand as your life might depend on them.
Since a greater number of recent immigrants now arrive from warmer--even tropical--countries, to them our winters are often a great shock and difficult to deal with, and even though their young children don't mind it as much, evidently few of them have the incentive to participate in hockey, which is why you see fewer and fewer kids using the outdoor rinks in certain neighbourhoods.
Another major factor as to why our winters "seem" colder nowadays is due to the changeover scale from Fahrenheit to Celsius which has created the illusion of "colder" temperatures, so when the weather report say's it is minus 10 Celsius, that's merely plus 14 Fahrenheit to us more "weatherproofed" citizens.
Due to constantly changing patters of the world's climate, such as El Nino and La Nina, we can, of course, receive a series of mild winters followed by a few colder or snowier ones. They are never exact duplicates of one another.
In times past on the St. Lawrence River during the Spring thaw, huge unstoppable chunks of ice would routinely crash into shoreline properties, destroying them.
Life would be awfully boring if the temperature remained the same day all year round. I know people who moved to Florida but eventually came back to Montreal because of the relentlessly hot and sweaty weather. They couldn't take it anymore! Indeed, I myself have spent several winters in Australia and found the heat and the constant need to apply sunscreen day after day an annoyance. You learn the fine art shade-seeking on the streets and on public transit. I missed the four seasons I grew up with!
After all, it is much easier for us mammals to warm ourselves up in winter than to cool ourselves down on those unbearably humid summer days and nights!
For reports of a couple of our major storms, see the Montreal Gazette for:
October 25, 1933 page 1 describing the worst early snowfall in 8 years, despite it being only 3 inches!
October 26, 1933, page 5 describes the destruction of thousands of our city's trees.
December 21 and 22, 1951, page 1
Once or twice I've found man-in-the-street interview articles from the 1930s where people talk about how much more difficult winters were back in the day.
ReplyDeleteIt's some weird tendency that we have to imagine that winters were once much colder.
The coldest winter in Montreal's recorded history was the 93-94 winter. I remember that one well. It stunk.
The foolhardy notion of building a bridge from Quebec to Newfoundland has in the past been quite correctly described as "A link from one million trees to another million trees."--not to forget that a new highway would have to be run through the wilderness from Havre St. Pierre to Blanc Sablon, altogether at a monumental cost. I can already envisage the bickering about who would pay for it all.
ReplyDeleteConsidering how long it took before a bridge was finally connected between Nova Scotia and P.E.I, I think we can safely say that a Quebec-Nfld. link is not in the cards for several generations yet--if ever.
As for domed cities (another ancient pipe dream), no existing material would be strong or secure enough to cover such a large area, plus the fear of sabotage would discourage any serious consideration.
However, smaller colonies covered by a series of interconnecting mini-domes would likely become standard procedure on the Moon and Mars for long-term habitation. Imagine our Expo67 geodesic-type dome in multiples.
I'm thinking a lot cheaper Urban Legend. As in getting a bunch of kids to start tossing rocks into the water. After a while they'll start piling up and the causeway will be our version of the pyramids, and an international tourist draw!
ReplyDeleteThe Following might be interesting?
ReplyDeletehttp://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html
Thank You.
Is there a bridge between Nova Scotia and PEI now?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Urban Legend meant to write "a bridge was finally constructed between NEW BRUNSWICK and PEI." The ferry is still the only connection between PEI and Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteOkay...here's the straight dope that should finally remove the link (ahem!) from the land of misrepresentation, befuddlement, utter confusion, and downright appalling geographical ignorance:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge
And may the Confederation Bridge survive winter's current onslaught! (not that I plan to cross it anytime soon!)
Further to our harsh Montreal winters and how to cope, check out this short but nifty video archive:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvZxp_uFKt8
Don't feel bad. Back in the days when the Tramways ran the Metro, the Yellow Line went to Charlottetown by way of Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteSo there is a historical precedence and a possible reason for one's confusion??
The Transfers are worth a fortune on eBay.
Thank You.
Touché...but I have it on good authority that, as part of the upcoming International Underground Network, plans are in the works for the projected Metro Brown Line to run from the Saguenay to Anchorage, Alaska
ReplyDeleteSee:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2598871/Maps-reveal-WORLD-connected-using-global-underground-network.html
All funding will be provided by tax payers, of course. ;-)
How may realize that Montreal once had an “ice bridge“ to Longueuil?
http://spacing.ca/montreal/2011/01/05/the-ever-so-short-lived-ice-bridge/
Well.... it IS warmer underground and there is no snow, thats why the Metro trains do not have windshield wipers.
ReplyDeleteWonder how they will cross the earthquake zones and tectonic plate divisions?
We crossed the Fault outside San Fran and it is obvious where the ground has shifted laterally.
Big refrigeration plants as they used to chill the concrete on the Boulder Dam should have been used to prolong the Ice Railway?
The Tramways used to move the ice blocks for the Winter Ice Castle from the rivers to the site on Electric Motor Flats.
My Uncle was killed in 1929 on Gouin by an ice truck hauling ice for storage for use in summer in home Ice Boxes.
The Metro looked better in Tramways Colours back in the day.
Thank God for Tax Payers!! A stain glass window must be somewhere to their adulation?
"Next Stop...Flin Flon."
They have not found out how to Tax one's dreams, yet.
Time for more Meds to get thru the rest of the afternoon with I Love Lucy and The Price is Right reruns.
Can blame everything on Old Age and the longing for our past, when things appeared to make sense and there were jobs and money for everyone and everything, after the War and the Depression.
Fact and Fiction and Dreams, and Nightmares as another overpass bites the dust.
Thank You.