This winter's weather prompted me to rent Al Gore's An Inconvienent Truth a few weeks ago. Not only did I watch it, but I also made sure my family did too. It really made me snap out of my blissful pseudo-ignorance about global warming and CO2 levels. Of course I learned all about global warming in school, but somehow it just never seemed real or terribly important. It was just another one of those things that teachers said was happening but I could never see for myself.

But now I feel like I am really seeing firsthand a change in weather. I know people say that this unseasonably warm winter is due to El Nino or something, but I just don't buy it. I am sure wind and water currents are having an impact, but there is no way this is all because of El Nino.

My genuine sadness over the weather probably merits a bit of an explanation. While I like temperate climates just as much as the next guy, I also really really love snow. It may sound strange, but part of me really believes that snow is magical and pure, and that every place looks more beautiful covered in white. This is also the first winter that I am spending home, in the area I grew up in, since I graduated high school. And some of my fondest memories of being home involve snow days: the sheer joy of waking up to a white landscape and a day off from school. I really can't imagine that thrill not being a part of life in this area, for both me and my future kids. (my family has also lived in the Princeton area for over 300 years, so chances are that I will end up settling down here)

Now I am just really worried, about the future of this planet and what life will be like in 50 years. This has gone from something that I thought about rarely to something that I think about at least once a day. I have really tried to change my lifestyle and make small improvements in the way I live.