TORONTO (AP) - Canada is experiencing its warmest winter in recorded history and the federal agency Environment Canada said Monday it may be another sign of global warming. Between December and February, the country was 3.9 degrees Celsius above normal—the warmest winter season since temperatures were first recorded in 1948.
Climatogist Bob Whitewood said it smashed the previous record set in 1987 by 0.9 degrees Celsius, and was the kind of season that comes along once every 100 years.
It was especially balmy in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, where temperatures were 6 to 8 degrees Celsius above normal.
Whitewood said the last 10 winters have been warmer than normal and along with this winter reflect a trend that could be explained as global warming. He said Environment Canada would spend the next year examining the data to see if it's an aberration or evidence of a trend.
While some Canadians have been delighted by the milder winter, many are disappointed about thinner ice for ice skating and hockey and less snow in the ski resorts. Several islands off Nova Scotia were inundated by thousands of pregnant seals forced to give birth on shore by unusually mild weather that has prevented the Gulf of St. Lawrence from freezing.
