By Emily Stonehouse

One or two degrees.

That’s the only difference between a cozy rainy day and a declaration of a significant weather event.

While we tweak and adjust our thermostats to meet our needs, that teeny tiny separation between one or two degrees can make or break a community.

When I spoke to Minden Mayor Bob Carter last week about the pending ice storm, he confirmed that all of Ontario was set to be slammed, but the variance in temperatures in either direction would dictate exactly what would fall from the skies.

And not a significant variance. One or two degrees.

That’s it.

You’ll often hear climate change deniers laugh at ‘global warming’. They’ll quip about how they could use a little extra warmth during the drudges of a cold snap. Or how seasons come with their own shares of highs and lows, always have, always will.

But climate change isn’t a massive shift in temperatures. It’s not the highest of the highs or the lowest of the lows.

It’s one or two degrees.

It’s gradual, it’s glacial, it’s almost gentle.

But it’s there. Those one or two degrees.

And while they may not seem like a big deal, I suggest looking out your window.

Because those one or two degrees just shut down a whole town. Multiple towns, all over the province. Businesses lost a day of profit, students lost a day of learning. Hydro workers left the warmth of their homes to brave the roads, township staff worked overtime to keep the world moving.

And now, we wait.

We’re still sitting in fear from the ice storm that slammed our community, nearly one year ago now. We all saw it coming, yet somehow, no one was fully prepared. Many called it the worst ice storm in decades. But here we are, less than 365 days later, faced with the fear again.

That’s not a coincidence.

That’s climate change. That’s one or two degrees, making all the difference between a cozy rainy day and a declaration of a significant weather event.

Unfortunately, there’s not an immediate solution to this problem. We will likely adapt and evolve as needed as a species, as we have for centuries before.

Or maybe that one or two degrees will continue to climb. Gradual, glacial, almost gentle.

We won’t notice it in our day to day, until we do. We’ll pretend it’s not happening, until it does. We’ll assume it will all work out, until it won’t.

We can no longer deny that climate change is real. That it’s happening right in front of us.

So maybe the first step is just recognizing that, and making every effort to be prepared, for those one or two degrees.