#I tell people that New Year's Day 1872 was 70 degrees here and their mouths hang open

[marzipanandminutiae]

so, this is absolutely an understandable sentiment! climate change is real and very scary; it causes me immense anxiety

however. what scientists call "environmental amnesia" goes both ways

the song White Christmas includes an intro most versions leave out, revealing that the singer isn't missing white Christmases because they don't happen anymore- he's missing them because he lives in Beverly Hills

additionally, white Christmases are historically pretty rare in many places where they're theoretically possible. it requires a perfect combination of factors to have snow on the ground or falling on Christmas day (Boston, where I live, actually had a white Christmas this year! but looking at records as far back as the 1890s, it was still definitely not a guarantee- days in the 50s Fahrenheit weren't terribly rare back then, in December)

on top of that those massive snowdrifts were photographed because they were rare. if they'd been an everyday sight, nobody would have had cause to take pictures of them

this is a Christmas parade around the mid-20th century here in Boston. no snow. I found more snowless vintage Christmas photos in Boston than snowy ones, in fact

like I said, I'm the furthest thing from a climate change denier. it's real, it's terrifying, and it's getting worse. the lack of snow we've had here the past few years causes me massive anxiety. but if it helps calm anyone even a little bit, so they can live their lives, to know that northern-hemisphere Decembers of the past were not winter wonderlands across the board

The lyrics "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know" hit differently in the age of climate change