(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation)

这一，两天，好多了。鼻没那么塞，可以顺畅呼吸了。真开心！

其实，想得仔细些，着凉事小，只是发牢骚。可是古怪气候令人担心。戈尔最近因在温室效应的努力拿了半个诺贝尔和平奖。撇开政治不谈，环保问题又开始被关注。

在此, 我想谈谈我自己的经验和观察。先谈多伦多。据天文气象计算，秋天约在９月２１日正式降临多伦多。可是在过去的几个星期，气温却多像夏天的气候, 有时高至三十度。在网上查到，过去几年的同一天的平均温度约在15至18度。至到这几天天气突然变冷，才较像秋天的天气。

我去年的圣诞在多伦多过，还以为会是白色的。怎知，那天，阳光普照。第一场雪在12月28日才下。听说，这几年来，多伦多的圣诞节已不再是白色。去年冬天，天气一向较温和及较少下大雪的温哥华竟下了好几场暴风雪，成为新闻头条。有许多房屋被破坏了，因为那儿的房屋建时没想到会下暴风雪。苦了那边的人。曾读到一篇调查，加拿大人愿意缓慢强劲的经济以捕救令人担心的环境问题。

记得去年, 当我将要去香港和回澳洲时, 先和香港及墨尔本朋友通电话以安排行程。问起他们那里的天气如何时，得到的答案都是- 这里的天气有点怪。总结一句：该冷时不冷，该热时不热。我在香港时，湿度高达90巴仙。难怪我朋友的妈妈在香港有风湿病，在澳洲时就没有。

澳洲这几年来都面对旱灾和可怕的森林大火。怎知，约在今年七月左右，突然下了好几场豪雨。水坝水位上升了，是一件好事。可是，豪雨却带来水灾，也是一个来得措手不及， 苦了人民。

唉！我们不需要他人告诉我们全球变暖等问题，我们多留意身边的气候环境就可知道。到头来，哪管那些政治人物或其他人大吵大闹，面对温室效应的恶果的是我们这些小市民。制止大商家减少二氧化碳很重要 ，但努力也要从我们开始。

我喜欢屋子光亮亮的，爱把灯都开了。Ed常骂我浪费电源。 我在澳洲学会节俭用水，Ed则说加拿大有很多水，我就骂他不会居安思危。怎样都好，至少我俩常提醒彼此要节省资源。

希望大家也各自警惕吧！ 各自一点棉力是可以积少成多的。

I started to feel better for the last couple of days. Realised it is such a blessing just to be able to breath properly and smoothly, something I always take for granted.

Anyway, catching a cold is only a whine, however, when I think about it more deeply, what struck me is the weird weather. Gore has recently shared a Nobel Peace Prize due his effort on raising awareness on global warming. Though politics is a hot topic caused by this award, undoubtedly environmental issues are widely discussed again.

I just want to share a little bit my own experiences and observation here. Start with Toronto. Astronomically, autumn has officially arrived in Toronto on around 21st September. However, for the past few weeks, the weather was more like summer weather, which some days could reach up to 30 Celsius. According to the weather office, the average temperature of those days that reached 30 Celsius was only about 15 to 18 Celsius for the past few years. It is not until past few days, the weather started to cool down drastically, which is more like the normal autumn weather.

Last year, I spent my Christmas in Toronto. I was initially quite looking forward for a white Christmas but it turned out to be a sunny Christmas. The first snow of winter only fell on 28th Dec. I have heard from Torontonians that they have not experienced real white Christmas for the past few years.

Another major weather events happened to Canada last year was the snowstorms in Vancouver. Vancouver is a city not normally have snowstorms, unfortunately, they not only had one but a few last year. Many people were not prepared and houses were not built to withstand snowstorms, hence many houses were partially damaged and people struggled with the cold. I have once read a survey about Canadians are willing to slow down their strong economics to put more emphasis on environmental issues.

I remember when I was planning my trips to Hong Kong and back to Australia, I rang my friends and asked how was the weather over there. Both my Hong Kong and Melbourne friends told me that : the weather is weird. In summary, it means, it is not too cold when it supposed to be cold, and it is not too hot when it supposed to be hot. When I was in Hong Kong, humidity level went up to 90% ! No wonder my friend’s mother complaint to me that she started to suffer arthritis when she returned to Hong Kong from Australia.

In Australia, it is famous that we suffered from drought and bush fires for the past few years. When I was in Australia mid this year, there were down pour of rains unexpectedly and hence floods. It was a good news that the water level was up but people suffered from floods.

I guess, we don’t have to be told about the global warming issues, only if we pay more attention on the environment around us, we will notice the changes. No matter how fiercely the politicians discuss this issue on stage, at the end of the days, we the ordinary people suffer from the consequences of global warming the most. It is very important that we restrict the factories releasing carbon dioxide, it is equally important that the real effort come from us.

For example, I love my house lit bright by lights but Ed said I am too wasteful on electricity. I learned how to save water from Australia lifestyle, but Ed told me that Canada has plenty of water. I told him off and said this is does not mean that we can use water wastefully. Whatever it is, at least, we try to remind each other to save energy.

I hope we all can do this together. It may seem only a small effort, but small effort accumulates to something big and they contribute to a big cause.