Toronto’s Warmest Winter?

As you may have noticed, Toronto hasn’t gotten the regular seasonal snow we always get every Winter year. If I can recall, last Winter we had more of a white Christmas than the one that just passed. So what is going on? After doing some research about this matter, I stumbled across an article from thestar.com which confirmed that it isn’t just me who feels this is odd.

In this article, it is basically said that Toronto’s wildlife is at risk due to the warm winter we’re having. This is definitely a concern seeing that “environmental experts say extremes like these stress out animals, invertebrates and plants used to one long winter freeze with a gradual rainy melt into spring (thestar.com)”. It is also stated in the article that “from wood frogs and salamanders to swallowtail butterflies and seed-bearing trees, species’ winter mortality rates can rise (lack of a snowy insulating layer means greater exposure to cold temperatures for meadow voles, for instance) or adults may produce stunted offspring. Trees, in particular, can be affected. While mild weather mitigates damage like broken branches from heavy ice, temperature swings can hamper reproduction at a time when provincial tree canopies, already considered too sparse, are being beefed up with millions of plantings (thestar.com).” Now is this scary or what?! As much as I love warm weather, I love nature and wildlife too!

You can read more about this information by visiting the article when you click here but why do you think we are having a warmer Winter this year? Most people will probably say global warming. Let me know what you think by leaving your opinions in the comments section below.