Western’s famed goose population has embraced the warmer autumn weather and stuck around campus a bit longer this year as the calendar edges closer and closer to winter. This winter could end up as one of the warmest on record for Canada as a strong El Nino persists into the upcoming season, according to AccuWeather forecasts. Much of Ontario, including the lake-effect snow belts, will have less snowfall compared to normal, as the main storm track shifts too far to the south and east during January and February. Canadian winters have been trending warmer since the middle of the 20th century, warming an average of 3 degrees over the past 67 years. Most of that warming has been across the northern half of the country.
Pulling up roots after 46 years
If you glance out Janet Williams’ office window in Middlesex College, you’ll see a lovely, mature 35-year-old beech tree. She remembers the day it was planted. “There used to be two, but about three years ago one suddenly died,” said Williams, an academic counsellor...