I can't quite place the moment that I switched from thoroughly enjoying a series of mild, sunny days to being more than a bit alarmed. I think it was just before I had plans to go skating, and had to cancel because rain was falling through the veritably balmy air, slushing up the ice. In Montréal. In February.

Most of February is usually spent groaning about the incessant cold and snow, and irrationally seizing on the tiniest (even nonexistent) signs of spring.

So it's quite the dilemma that this lovely weather cannot really be enjoyed without the lingering thought that it is also the prelude to a predicted biodiversity holocaust and who knows what for humans, who steadfastly refuse to take it seriously.

I wonder if that isn't the defining question of this particular point in history. How do we take our situation seriously? Folks like Jared Diamond, Ronald Wright and Stephen Lewis have been trying, but I'm interested in ways to refine, if not drastically improve upon, their answers.