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April 23: Quebec flooding not from climate change

Re: “Flooding, climate change force Quebecers to rethink relationship with water, April 20. Here we go again: That damn old climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Re: “Flooding, climate change force Quebecers to rethink relationship with water, April 20.

Here we go again: That damn old climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels.

“Sudden waves of warm weather followed by quick drops in temperatures increase the risk of ice accumulating on the rivers in the winter. … The ice jams act as a dam, holding back water, and when the ice begins to melt and move, the dam bursts,” the story says.

I am familiar with ice jams and subsequent flooding, having been born in Quebec 82 years ago. Our farm bordered the Pickanoc River, which emptied into the Gatineau River five miles away, and the Gatineau emptied into the Ottawa River near Ottawa. Flooding was a common occurrence anywhere along these rivers, as long as I can remember.

There is a simple answer to sudden waves of warm weather in the winter followed by quick drops in temperature, as experienced in recent years. The “cause” has never been tied to burning of fossil fuels and global warming.

This winter, as in a lot of recent winters, there has been a shift in the pattern of atmospheric low- and high-pressure areas that track across Canada and parts of the U.S. When these systems deviate from their regular track, they will either cause a flow of warm, moist air from the south and subsequently cause a spike in warm temperatures, or a dramatic drop, if Arctic cold air is involved.

I suggest that climate-change “scientists” get their heads out of the box and consider other factors.

John Walker

Cobble Hill