Another year has gone by and it’s been rather amusing to listen to long term seasonal forecasts since we’ve reached the point where the experts are struggling to effectively predict these changes. Is that scary? Yes, it is. Human life has been structured around much of this cycle from growing food, how we work, our various forms of leisure among other things. Usually towards the end of winter we hear a message that summer is going to be “very hot and humid” and when summer winds down we begin to sweat even more. Not because of the late season humidity but rather the sudden realization that the clock is running thin on our sun-worshiping pastimes. To spoil it even further, we sometimes get thrown an ugly sounding warning that winter is being predicted as “very cold & snowy”. Sure, that’s what the season has traditionally been. Nowadays we have a silent celebration in our minds that if we head into the new year without any snow it’s somehow a victory in claiming that “winter isn’t so bad”.
It may not be so bad for us because we can easily adapt, however it’s confusing the wildlife around us that aren’t capable of adapting as quickly as we can. They’ve evolved over millennia to feed, reproduce and migrate from certain queues in weather patterns or seasonal changes. Nowadays there is nothing normal about those queues being mistimed or skipped in some cases. Winter birds are feasting at the backyard feeder one week and gone the next thanks to a mild spell. Bears can be drawn out of their dens sooner than expected. For those of us that are paying attention to these different behaviours, we can say it’s far from normal.
Insects are at the bottom of the food web and are in desperate need of relief. It’s been another year to remember for the majestic Monarch butterfly as they try to adapt to a longer breeding season and the effects of a changing climate. What was once a healthy population of butterflies, is now dwindling to a dangerously low number to the point where recovery is becoming more challenging year after year. The size of the population is typically calculated by estimating the density of butterflies occupying tree branches within an area of forest in the Michoacan mountain range in central Mexico. Each March has become a nail-biting experience wondering if the butterflies are going to be able to leave Mexico. In 2019, there was a sudden cold front that dropped eight inches of snow in the Oyamel Fir forests and many of the butterflies didn’t survive. Miraculously there were still a small number of Monarchs that were able to arrive into the southern United States, in Texas, where they breed a new generation. This new generation of caterpillars are the ones that will be traveling to Canada by late May and June.
Extreme weather events are taking a toll on the food we are able to grow, import and export. The so-called “Coffee Belt” countries from Central and South America, where the majority of our coffee is sourced from, has been battling disease and drought that continues to inflate the beloved ‘cup of joe’. We recently discovered that Halloween chocolate bars are being impacted by the rising inflation of cacao beans due to similar factors. Those are just a couple examples that cause inflation across our food network. Sadly, it’s not getting any better. We need to adapt to lessen our impact on the small piece of planet we inhabit. It’s important to build better, travel more efficiently, protect the natural world and until we can see those changes then we will need to plan for more severe weather events, global disasters and food crises. It catches up to us, in more ways than one.
Matt Thomson is a local conservationist based in Severn and is actively involved in multiple stewardship activities throughout the area. Be sure to find him on Instagram or Facebook, @ardtreanature.
