Lake Erie frozen

It's not exactly a snow capital, even though in Canada. Actually I think it's one area there that gets the least snowfall on a regular basis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Vancouver#Snow
Snow occurs in the surrounding mountains and in the higher-lying areas of Greater Vancouver, such as Burnaby Mountain, Coquitlam, and North/West Vancouver. It is less commonly found in places which are at sea level. There is a general misconception among visitors and residents in other parts of Canada that Vancouver does not receive any snow at all, but in fact there has never been a winter in which traceable snow has not been observed at Vancouver International Airport. Environment Canada has ranked Vancouver in 3rd place under the category of "Lowest Snowfall" among 100 major Canadian cities

is sort of true for the lower lying downtown core. But Vancouver is surrounded by mountains, and I've been there in May when there was still Snow on Grouse Mountain. Because of El Nino conditions this year the Vancouver area had snow, but lost it, and that's why they got stuck with trucking it in. Most years the mountains would be great, but climate is becoming less predictable in the long run.

Most of this has to do with ocean currents, and I don't know to what degree you can blame Man Made Climate Change for that. Climate change is a constant. It wasn't mankind that started the Ice Age, nor did they warm the earth up sufficiently to reverse the Ice Age. There are no easy answers to this, but Greenhouse Gases are worrisome because we don't know what they're really going to do.

That's why I still sit on the fence, neither embracing it, nor embracing its deniers. Maybe Global Warming is an accurate phrase, we'll know in about 25 or 30 years. But Global Climate Change is definitely here for whatever reason. I can't immediately recall anything like the heavy snow in Washington in my life time, but I do remember National Geographic photos of Glaciers that have retreated since the 1920's. I don't know the cause, and I don't think anybody else does with certainty.

Railing against people who would reduce greenhouse gases however isn't very productive. Oil is becoming more expensive to find and to extract every year, not to mention the political issues of unstable regimes in control of it. Inexhaustible sources like solar, wind, and tide make far more sense in a world where electrical demand will never go down

Rob

...poisonous gases, or even those strongly indicated in acid rain such as sulfur dioxides, but going after carbon dioxide, a necessary plant nutrient that studies have shown in greater quantities raises yields of food bearing plants, is ridiculous.

and Carbon Dioxide is ALL good?

What's wrong with trying to not produce any more than is really necessary? (in other words, the bare minimum)

beneficial? But we must keep in mind that any amount is harmful to something and there may be no maximum amount that becomes poisonous to some things. Fortunately we have an invisible balancing mechanism that looks at the larger picture and makes adjustments as needed. Those adjustments will be popular with some organisms and unpopular with others.

So, if residents there are not surprised, why are you?


http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/parenting/archive/2010/02/09/vancouver-warmest-olympics-snow.aspx

With the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics just days away, one of the biggest causes of concern remains the lack of snow on Cypress Mountain. And the weather forecast in the city for the next few days is so incredibly mild that, as Mark Hamilton noted on Twitter, the 2010 Games could "be the first winter Olympics you can attend in shorts and tees".

All of which reminded me of an article I wrote for The Vancouver Sun way back in 2003, on the day we were awarded the Games, noting that Vancouver would be the warmest city to ever host a Winter Olympics.

The article seems awfully prophetic now.

It did it 14 years ago, and partially freezes every year.


and it's not like they are hauling snow so they can ski through Gastown in Vancouver,