Instead of thinking about having fun as summer nears, ‘I’m thinking about flooding and thunderstorms and twisters, not to mention smoky air from wildfires’
Some of this is my fault.
Since I was 18 years old, I’ve owned my own gas-powered car and contributed to the greenhouse gases that continue to warm our planet.
But it’s this time of year when it really begins to hit home, just what we’ve done to Mother Earth, including me.
Sure, we had a brutal winter, snow up to higher than I could reach with my snow shovel. And so much accumulated white stuff that there’s been significant flooding in parts of Ontario, including the Orillia area.
The winter before we had that ice storm, which knocked out power and downed trees throughout Orillia and Simcoe County. You can still see the piles of branches and trees in parts of the city.
Springtime always brings some apprehension anyway. While we bid goodbye to winter, it’s not all sunshine and warmth that’s in the weather forecast.
The severe weather that’s coming will include thunderstorms and at least warnings of tornadoes, if not twisters themselves, sending us to the relative safety of our basements, our cellphones — or emergency transistor radios — in hand, looking for weather updates.
(Which reminds me, I need to check my windup emergency radio to make sure it’s winding up properly.)
And here I was thinking about playing tennis, taking a short canoe trip, an even shorter kayaking trip, running in shorts and just generally enjoying the sunshine, warmth and lack of snowfall.
Then I almost, but not quite, forgot about wildfire season — which is not just a British Columbia thing, but an Ontario thing now, too.
That smokey haze in the air comes from our forests being on fire, and far too often communities, from increasingly warmer temperatures.
Admittedly, the haze is relatively new to Ontario. I first really noticed it the first weekend June 2025 when the Barrie Airshow was on. I thought the sun should have been shining, and it was. You just couldn’t see it properly with that haze like a blanket over the city.
When you take an aerial view of this province and see how much is forest, you get a better idea what’s at stake when the flames spread.
Adding to this trouble is that not all of these forest fires are started by lightning strikes. Some are manmade, by hikers and campers and even construction equipment.
All of this leads to greenhouse gases, a warmer climate and disruption.
Some of this is my fault, admittedly.
My gas-powered car sits in my driveway.
I go by foot when I can, but I don’t ride a bike and drive most places.
My car is still in my driveway.
It’s not that new anymore, but I get it tuned up regularly so that it doesn’t pollute any more than necessary (if it’s ever necessary to pollute).
So instead of thinking about having fun as spring approaches summer, I’m thinking about flooding and thunderstorms and twisters, not to mention smoky air from wildfires.
Some of this is my fault.
But there’s plenty of blame to go around.
Bob Bruton covers city hall for BarrieToday.