I woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing. When I put my feet on the floor, they weren’t met by icy coldness that made me want to crawl back under the covers. I didn’t even have to warm up my car before leaving for work. So, you may be asking yourself, what is the problem? Well for starters, it’s December. Usually at this time of year cars are buried under snow and temperatures peak at a low 30 degrees. This year, things have been a little different, with rain falling instead of snow and temperatures ranging from 40 to 60 degrees.

Call me a liberal, tree-hugging, environmentalist if you want, but I’m not afraid to acknowledge the fact that for several years, the climate has been changing in some drastic ways. Call it global warming or cyclical climate change, the results are the same. The ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, and warmer temperatures in the ocean are intensifying the strength of hurricanes and storm systems throughout the world.