Despite the warnings of global warming, winter temperatures have been within seasonal norms for our area.  With the temperatures being lower than recent years, all across Canada, it makes me wonder if the world is leaving a warmer period and entering a cooler one.

Throughout history there have been natural cycles of cooler and warmer weather – some more extreme than others.  In fact, one could liken it to the heating and cooling cycles of a forced-air furnace or space heater.

Two famous examples of the earth going through cooling and warming periods pertain to Canada’s Arctic and the search for the Northwest Passage.  Sir John Franklin and the entire crew of his two ships perished after they had to abandon their ships, icebound for two years, from 1845-1847.

Yet it was only 56 years later when Roald Amundsen was able to navigate through relatively ice-free waterways during 1903-1906.  In 1940, RCMP Henry Larsen and his crew sailed the Northwest Passage from west to east (Vancouver, BC to Halifax, NS).  They returned from east to west in 1944. 

In those instances, the Canadian Arctic waterways had been frozen during the winter but thawed in the summer, permitting the Gjøa and St. Roch to pass when Franklin’s ships, the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, could not.

…These are some of the things a person has time to ponder, when it is so cold, for so long! 

Here is a photo of dd holding the outside thermometer on our back deck.  The daytime temperatures have been –30°C (-22°F) or colder, with cooler temperatures at night.  Even through the ski coat and snowmobile gloves, dd’s body heat warmed the ambient air temperature around the thermometer, raising the temperature to –29°C.

Keep warm!