Weather
By C. D.
Living in Asia for many years, I often used to wonder why visitors from Europe always loved and enjoyed the warm sunny weather we normally experience approximately eight to nine months a year. Many fly straight down to one of the many tropical islands in Asia to get a natural tan.
Visiting U.K. and Europe quite often, I always seem to land up during the dismal, cold and dreary weather and that is when I understood why they all yearned for the warmth of the sun. During the winter I would hardly see the sun and even if I did, it sets very early between 3 to 4 pm. Imagine the working community going to work in the dark around 8am and coming home in the dark around 5pm. Many a times the dismal weather is accompanied with either rain or snow. This makes it worse and one can see the gloominess on the faces of the public. Very few smiles around!
When I first landed in London years ago, I and my wife decided to take a walk in the city. We were greeted by a severe cold, windy and rainy weather. Strong wind made cold air feel colder. We were shivering and our umbrellas were totally destroyed by the wind. Now we realized why most of the public were wearing jackets with hoods. We immediately sought cover and cut our visit short by flying off the next day.
Should there be an occasional sunny day during the weekend, majority of the residents just gets out to the open parks and enjoy the sunshine with family and friends. The major parks in London are huge with lakes, playgrounds, restaurants and enough space for all to enjoy picnics, football, cricket and tennis. There is always happiness and joy when the sun is out.
In contrast, we in Asia, have humidity. You may hear something to the effect that it is not the heat but the humidity. The humidity can make the air feel like it is hard to breath. It makes you feel hotter since perspiration does not evaporate as quickly.
We also have Typhoons. Pick an infamous typhoon from the past and you will find some people still complaining about it and blaming problems on it. Typhoon can ruin lives. They combine several things people complain about - rain, wind and flooding.
Asians or Europeans have one thing in common on the weather. Complain and complain! It is either too hot or too cold. Either one sends the utility bills through the roof. The main problem? Global warming! Any bad weather will get blamed on global warming whether it is too much or too little rain or too hot weather.
Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. Warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. You may hear something to the effect that humans are destroying the earth and a great climatic disaster will occur one day and probably surprise our grand or great grandchildren. Hopefully the governments will listen and find a solution to this ongoing problem.