WINTER'S BITTER GRIP

Transcription

1 News in Review February 2014 Teacher Resource Guide WINTER'S BITTER GRIP SETTING THE STAGE: DANGEROUS WEATHER No matter where you live in Canada there is one topic of conversation that comes up everyday of the year the weather. Our vast country experiences a variety of climatic conditions: temperate rainforest on the West Coast; extremes of heat and cold on the Prairies; humidity in Central Canada; and damp, breezy days on the East Coast. Canadians have experienced all ranges of weather over the years but the winter of 2013 will be remembered for dangerously low temperatures, high winds and a devastating ice storm. There seemed little relief in sight and even the ground hogs could not agree on the duration of this winter. An icy Christmas As Canadians prepared to celebrate Christmas, Central Canada was hit with a vicious storm. The storm arrived on December 22 and overnight ice became its main feature. Soon trees and electrical wires were covered in heavy coats of freezing rain. It did not take long for tree limbs to break under the weight of the ice and many landed on electrical wires. In short order, there were large stretches of southern Ontario and Quebec, as well as parts of the Maritimes, with massive power outages. Hundreds of thousands of people faced days without power and freezing temperatures. They were forced to either move in with friends and relatives with power or seek shelter in the warming centres that cities made available. In an effort to remain warm, people lit gas heaters and ended up suffering and in some cases dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. The hydro companies worked overtime dispatching workers to clear the fallen trees and reconnect the wires. In Ontario crews arrived from other provinces and even from some American states to assist in the effort. The storm actually put a great deal of stress on the ability of the power companies to restore electricity, since the storm also affected parts of the United States which needed their own crews to help out. Even with the best efforts of hydro workers, there were some homes that were without power for over a week. For many families the holidays were filled with a little less Christmas cheer. Polar vortex As people came to grips with this extreme weather a meteorological term entered our vocabulary polar vortex. This referred to the cold air mass located above the Arctic Circle. This cold air builds up as the dark regions of the Arctic go through winter. Typically the air is kept north by the jet stream, a band of strong wind that blows west-east in the upper level of the atmosphere. Occasionally a section of that Arctic air heads south to produce the cold temperatures we expect for the time of year. This year, however, a weaker jet stream allowed a polar blast to move further south and remain for a longer period of time. Temperatures dropped and the situation was made worse by News in Review CBC Learning newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 26

2 strong winds. Cities recorded temperatures in the double digit below zero range in Winnipeg on December 31 the temperature was -36 without the wind chill! With the added wind there was a real fear of people suffering frostbite. In some southern American states, the unusual cold resulted in schools and businesses being closed. Weird weather elsewhere This unusual weather also had a global impact. With the strong winds moving west to east, the jet stream pounded the coasts of England resulting in coastal flooding. The system also produced record amounts of rainfall that added to the flooding. In Scandinavia the impact of this climatic shift resulted in an unusually warm winter. Temperatures were 3-4 degrees above average. This resulted in some plants flowering early and even bears prematurely leaving hibernation. The long-term impact of such weather may be felt later this year; if some berry producing plants flower too early and die off there will be a smaller food supply for various animals. These warm temperatures could also allow some disease-bearing insects and bacteria to survive and pose future health threats. The climate change question This strange weather quickly reignited the debate on climate change. Was this winter a sign of the future? Some scientists warned that we should not rush to conclusions based on one unusual year. Others warned that this winter could be an example of how our warming planet is responding to climate change. These scientists point to the shrinking ice mass in the Arctic and believe that with more open water appearing the air mass above this area is becoming warmer and more moist. As this moist air moves further south it can produce heavy rain and snow. Economy also takes a hit This year s storms did not only take a personal toll but also had a large economic impact. It was estimated that in the United States the storm caused about $3 billion in lost industrial production. The cost of the clean up to Ontario municipalities was approximately $275 million. Many local officials called upon the federal and provincial government to help with the cost, claiming their towns and cities could not afford to cover the entire cost. At the year s peak travel time, Toronto s Pearson Airport was closed for a number of hours due to the icy conditions on the runways. This resulted in hundreds of passengers being forced to miss flights or be stranded at the airport. Once the airport was reopened, it took days to clear up the backlog of flights. The economic impact did not stop there, as passengers were forced to cancel holiday plans and business meetings. Although this has been a hard winter for many Canadians, at least we know that spring will eventually come. However it is doubtful that we ll soon forget the winter of The question many of us are asking is whether this winter is an aberration or a hint of what is to come for the future. News in Review CBC Learning newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 27

3 VIDEO REVIEW Pre viewing 1. Has this winter had an impact on you? List one positive and one negative impact. 2. How would you cope if you lost power for two or more days? While viewing 1. Besides poor road conditions, what other impact did the ice storm have on institutions such as hospitals and power sources? 2. How did the city of Toronto respond to the ice storm and power loss? 3. What were the dangerous practices some people used to stay warm in their homes that lacked power? 4. How did some people make the best of bad situation? 5. What obstacles did hydro crews face in trying to restore power? News in Review CBC Learning newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 28

4 6. What lessons could be learned from the power losses? 7. Why was the impact of the storm more severe in the United States? Post viewing 1. This was a hard winter even by Canadian standards, but it had a huge impact on many U.S. states unaccustomed to such cold and ice conditions. Using your Canadian expertise identify some issues that could arise from this bad weather and offer some possible solutions. Problems e.g. A lot of car accidents due to ice Possible Solutions Drive more slowly than you would in better weather conditions 2. When the storm hit and power went out, many people were caught unprepared. Suggest a list of items people should keep on hand to deal with potential storms and outages. Once your list is complete, compare your suggestions to those posted on the Weather Channel: 3. After the ice storm hit and power outages became widespread, there was a call by some people to have a state of emergency declared in Toronto. This would allow assistance and funds to be directed to the city. Some western Canadians scoffed at this demand; they basically felt central Canadians were too soft and hadn t lived until they had experienced a real prairie winter. Do you agree with these western Canadians or would you reject their comments? You can either write a half-page commentary/tweet a response/write a blog /record your opinion either supporting the western Canadian perspective or justifying southern Ontario s position. News in Review CBC Learning newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 29

5 ACTIVITY: WHAT HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING? Does a bitterly cold winter disprove global warming or provide more support for the theories? Complete the organizer below by identifying arguments in favour of global warming and arguments skeptical of the theory. You can begin by examining the following two articles that support the theory of global warming and the third article that offers a skeptic s point of view. After you complete your chart, determine where you stand and offer your opinion using information from the articles and other sources you may find. Climate change might just be driving the historic cold snap: science.time.com/2014/01/06/climate-change-driving-cold-weather/ Wild winter a sign of climate change? Councillor under fire after suggesting Calgary s bad winter brings global warming into question: rings+global+warming+into+question/ /story.html Arguments for Global Warming Arguments Against Global Warming My questions or concerns on each argument My conclusions (e.g. I believe because. ) News in Review CBC Learning newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 30