Snowmaggedon This Week in Nelson, BC!

Nelson, and much of southern BC including the coast, has been hit by a series of snow storms.  There is so much snow that people don’t know where to put it and the city of Nelson has had a difficult time keeping up with the amount of snow that’s fallen.  Someone locally referred to this as “snowmaggedon.”  I heard someone else refer to the large amount of snow we have received as a “snowpocalypse.”

It has stopped snowing at the moment and we are now supposed to get some rain and warmer temperatures!  We’ll see what that’s like.  And we’ll see what happens on Sunday—we’ve nowhere to park!

I was at a store recently browsing for something and overhead two people talking about the weather—we do that a lot in Canada.  They were talking about the cold weather and the amount of snow; and then one said that this is proof positive that global warming is a hoax.  The other person agreed.  I couldn’t believe my ears.

We’ve moved away from referring to climate change as global warming.  While it is true that the earth is warming—by 0.85˚C since the industrial revolution—the warming of the earth is causing huge climate events—heavy storms, rains and flooding, snow, severe cold, severe heat.  The climate is disrupted by human-generated GHG (greenhouse gasses).  Scientists are warning us that there will be catastrophic changes to our planet if we exceed 2˚C by 2100.  (Current calculations by scientists tell us that if we don’t do better than the Paris Agreement, we will exceed 3˚C by 2100!)

Even 2˚C is too much.  We need to keep it at 1.5 or less!  That takes world-wide action on the part of our leaders and pressure from all citizens.  We have to hold PM Justin Trudeau accountable for the lack of climate leadership he has demonstrated in recent months; and of course, there’s Donald Trump, who doesn’t believe in climate change—how do we hold him accountable?

Yes, it is snowing and we’ve had long stretches of cold weather—cold for Nelson.  This is an example of climate disruption and a clear reminder to all of us to do what we can to urge governments to mitigate climate change (reduce carbon pollution soon and eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2050) and adapt to the changes that have already disrupted life in many parts of the globe.  We also can come together to create strong movements of change.

Snowmaggedon is a call to action and a reminder that we need to do what we can do to seek justice for the earth.

Lots of snow and nowhere to park!

There's a car buried under the mound behind the street sign.