The mountains of snow that dwarfed the street of Ottawa have now become merely hills. But we are in April and the very fact that snow still dominates the city's landscape testifies to winter's tenacity this year. Most times snow is gone by the end of March and in early April you only find patches left. So severe was this year's winter that in a Friday sermon an imam stated that contrary to popular beliefs, it is not fire alone that constitutes hell. Hell is so bitterly cold in areas, he stated, that sinners will beg to be taken to the fires of hell to escape the cold torture. I had my own encounter with winter's peril when I went out for a walk this week. I was cautious, as you must be in winter. But I failed to spot a tiny sliver of ice and, suddenly, I slipped and fell scraping my face and leg. Mercifully, no bones were broken. I have had similar falls in Michigan and in Ottawa. It's something you try to prevent, but you don't always succeed. Fortunately, I escaped uninjured except once. My son had raced downhill while skiing and fell. I zoomed after him to see if he was OK. He was and he stood up grinning. But my ski got caught in ice and I went up in the air and came down with a thud. I needed a plaster to fix a hairline crack. Such accidents are not the domain of winter alone. My sister was indoors in Islamabad when the rug she was walking on slid suddenly. She fell and was seriously hurt. In our approximately 50 years in Ottawa, we have seen snow in every month except July. But a few flakes floating down to the ground only remind you that this country is old man winter's realm. The reality now is that summers in Ottawa are brutally hot and feel even more so because the houses are made to trap heat and keep fresh air out. So now people use air-conditioners and enjoy the lakes, trees, rivers and parks that make Ottawa a nature lover's dream. However, the dream can swiftly metamorphose into a nightmare if the weather, cold or hot, turns nasty. We have experienced beautiful days along with earthquakes, ice storms that turned roads into skating rinks, snow blizzards that reduced visibility to zero and howling winds that toppled trees and flattened houses - all reminders that nature is awfully powerful and unpredictable and that Ottawa is a beautiful but demanding mistress. The common conception is that global warming cautions you that the warming of the earth, the thinning of snow at the poles and the rise in oceans will flood many countries, imperil several species and make life a formidable challenge for man. But the term global warming really means that the world will experience not only extreme heat but also bitter cold as well as other natural disasters from floods to earthquakes to drought to hurricanes. MacLean's magazine summed up Canada's plight this year with the headline: “The winter that ruined everything. It broke records, wreaked havoc on roads and kneecapped the economy. It also showed us how ill-prepared Canada is for a future of extreme weather.” In fact, the last few years have generally featured milder winters and warmer summers. But even in harsh winters very cold temperatures were softened by periodic thaws that brought warmer temperatures and provided people with respite. Not so this year. The winter - which usually arrives to stay in November - showed up early. It provided no breaks of mild weather, plunged the temperature to record lows and showed no desire to leave. As Maclean's reminded its readers, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary calls the city of Winnipeg “Winterpeg.” This “record-breaking Canadian winter has been so nasty, so unrelenting, that even the Peg is losing its patience.” But it isn't Canada alone that had to brave the wrath of Mother Nature. Severe weather lashed other countries as well, some far less prepared than Canada to withstand its assaults. In Canada, pipes were frozen, electricity was cut off, snow toppled trees and homes and the cold weather turned even the Great Lakes into solid rocks of sheer ice. Neighboring US was walloped as well, suffering by one estimate $50 billion in lost productivity. Other countries had to cope with bone-chilling cold, drought, blizzards, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and the loss of water, food and countless animals. Canadian scientists joined the 2,000 scientists and expert reviewers from 70 countries who contributed to the Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change, which was recently released in Japan. They have warned the world to act before it is too late. “We no longer have the option of choosing between mitigation and adaptation,” University of Alberta sociologist and lead author of the report Debra Davidson stated. “We're already locked into a global-warming scenario in which adaptation will be absolutely necessary if we want a reasonable quality of life.” Man should pay heed.
— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.
