I’m thinking of making t-shirts boasting how I managed last weeks deep freeze with eye catching slogans like, ‘I survived the polar vortex of 2024’, or ‘I lived through the Coldpocalypse’.
Jokes aside we have been fodder for the rest of the country as cars piled up after a dusting of snow. We huddled in our central heated homes and watched as temperature records were broken.
As someone who visits the grocery store too many times in a week, I actually didn’t go out of my house for two days, except to quickly walk the dog around the block.
Meteorologists tell us the dry arctic air that blew into the Lower Mainland is highly unusual. The polar vortex normally keeps arctic air at bay, but due to a warming planet, extreme cold and heat are going to be our new normal.
The province’s electrical grid was stretched to the max and burst water pipes disrupted ferries, hospitals, restaurants, and homes.
It’s clear we are not ready for extreme highs and lows in temperatures, especially when we remember the heat dome of June 2021 - an experience I will never forget.
Based on this years already minimal snow pack, we are in for serious drought conditions this summer leading to more forest fires.
Climate change is overwhelming, and I am left wondering what we can do to better prepare for the inevitable weather extremes. I can’t stop countries from burning fossil fuels, but I can change my own behaviour and get equipped.
Some changes we have made include an on demand hot water tank, electric lawn mower, rain barrels, drought tolerant plants. It all sounds mildly pathetic, but baby steps I tell myself, as we slowly adapt to the new normal.
I used to be worried about an earthquake, now weather is the new variable on a planet that is heating up way too fast.
Ingrid Abbott is a freelance writer who would never make it to the top of Everest.
