I’M OUTSIDE IN JANUARY ONLY WEARING TWO T-SHIRTS AND I’M NOT COLD This weather is not normal. Also, I have a banana.
Working late tonight, needed a coffee. Figured I’d just walk across the pedestrian mall to The Good Earth because I didn’t wanna trot all the way to Atlantis (though I like Atlantis coffee better).
But a funny thing happened on the way to the caffeine.
Since this is a 20-second walk and it’s a relatively not-cold day, I don’t put on my coat. When I get to Good Earth, though, it’s closed. So I can either head to The Second Cup in the Cornwall Centre, or walk a few blocks to Atlantis (and the best coffee).
Even though I’m only wearing two thin American Apparel 50-50 shirts and I’m outside in January, I settle on Atlantis.
It was a painless walk.
Yeah, I like food and beer, so I’m well padded and I’m sure that helps me stay warm. Still, there’s no way ANYONE should be able to be outdoors in January for any length of time without shivering their skin off.
I got my coffee and I walked back to the office. Stopped to talk to a pal on the O’Hanlon’s patio, then bumped into Beatty and asked him to take the picture in this blog post.
Total time outside in T-shirts: probably 25 minutes. Total frostbite: none.
Why am I writing this? Because to me — I would think to anyone reasonable — a bonkers-warm day in January coming on the heels of a record-hot year following a record-hot decade is more evidence that our climate is broken.
I obviously love a warm winter day as much as anyone in Saskatchewan but plus-four in January more than once every couple of decades is ridiculous. We should all be terrified, and furious that global warming has been allowed to get this bad. And we should be demanding urgent action on global warming from our politicians and business leaders with letters, rallies and protests, and all that stuff.
Instead we’re all like, “la la la, isn’t this weather super-duper?”
No it’s not, dammit.
Global warming is predicted to cause more destructive weather events, deadly heat waves, droughts, floods, crop failures, ocean acidification, and ultimately water and food shortages. It’s not gonna be fun and it’s not gonna be cheap. I know we’re just one country, but could Canadians maybe start to take this threat seriously?
I like people. I like Canada. I like civilization. Global warming is bad news for all three of those things. Can we please smarten the fuck up and start demanding action?
