February should spell an icy and cautious trip for commuters, but this year has been has been different.
By: Jefferson Marshall
With the temperatures dipping in the negatives for the past couple days, it’s hard to believe that Toronto had the warmest February in about 80 years.
Despite it being the middle of winter, the city has seen temperatures reach 17 degrees in the last week.
Students at Humber have had to endure the inconsistency during their daily commutes on campus.
“I would have to spend an extra 10 minutes warming up my car before I can bring it on the road on cold days,” said Jeysen Pious, a Guelph-Humber Business student, “but when it’s gotten warm I’ve been able to get to school earlier since most of my classes are in the morning.”
Though February was the warmest in decades, the month began with temperatures around -12 and a month’s amount of snowfall in just the first couple days.
Why is this happening?
Are these the effects of climate change or is this weather just an outlier and things will go back to normal soon?
“I never want to go out there and say it’s definitely [climate change],” said Environment Canada Meteorologist Dave Phillips. “But Toronto did have one of their coldest winters just two years ago, so it hasn’t always been this way.”
A Princeton University meteorology professor has predicted that there are more mild days coming to Canada. Karin van der Wiel and her colleagues believe an increase of greenhouse gases will bring tepid temperatures with low amounts of rain fall and humidity to Canada.
A diagram of what countries should expect climate-wise by 2035 according to van der Wiel’s recent study. (Karin van der Wiel/NOAA/Princeton University via Associated Press)
Most would appreciate the break from the harsh environment a Canadian winter entails, but not all students are enjoying the warmer climate.
“I actually prefer the colder days over hot days,” said Guelph-Humber student Dazhiell Belford. “When I get too hot I just feel miserable and can’t recover from it, so I don’t mind the winter weather.”
Nonetheless, don’t expect the weather to be consistent anytime soon. Temperatures this weekend will be in the negatives and a high of 11 degrees is the forecast for the beginning next week.