Winters Aren’t What They Used to Be

In the early nineties, when the boys and I were in kindergarten, we used to go sledding in the winter. The snow was thick and white, and the sleigh was lugging from up the hill near the lake. One important thing to mention: winter would start in early December and stop in late February. Back in the day, winters were winters.  Sometimes, winter would make its way in November. Regardless, the first flowers to blossom in early March would do it from a thin layer of snow. Winter meant snow, and we couldn’t imagine it any other way.   Still, we are living in different times. As I am writing this text, I am looking out the window. It’s murky outside, although the clock shows only six in the evening. The roads are dry, and people walk without many layers of clothing on them. A winter day without snow looks like a mundane autumn day. Yes, winter without snow is dull. Winter without snow is just a longer episode of autumn.   Interestingly, a whole generation of young people were raised without snowy winters. Of course, they’ve seen snow in December and January. Still, they haven’t seen a full winter season in which snow covers the ground from December until the very end of February. They haven’t seen what real winter means.   For these young people, a full December without snow is part of their normal. For them, a Christmas without a snowy day is the status quo. They don’t view a Christmas Eve without snow as a tragedy. It’s their normality.   As I check the weather forecast, I see that tomorrow will be a rainy and windy day. A typical autumn day in December! Again, is this the new normal? I guess so. Last winter, we had only five days of snow. Three years ago, we only had a single day in which some snowflakes touched the ground.   Given all this, we may conclude that winters have changed. My winters, the ones with heavy snow, are not the winters of the current generation.   The question is, what should I make of this? What should we all make of this?   An environmental activist will point out that this is proof of climate change. Very well, I may reply. It may be climate change at stake. However, in our everyday lives, what should we make of this? Should we panic? Is the end of the world near? Or should we just adapt to our new world?   In many parts of the world, the land has never seen a snowflake. The people living there are as happy and as sad as we are here. It may play no role whether we have snowy winters. We can still ornate the Christmas tree in December, and we can eat the family dinner on Christmas Eve. The snow used to reflect the spirit of that time of the year; now, it seems, we need to adapt to the new environment. The more important questions regard the environment and what these changes bring for it. Because, whether we like it or not, the changes in climate will affect our lives. They affect our bodies, minds, crops, and daily activities. They affect us as humans.