A snowflake and global warming: Is there any connection?

In 2018, I was in my childhood house – a large house in a small village – precisely speaking Pakhapani, Gwadi, Nepal. Other than trees, houses and a few elders, the witness of my growth was not there anymore – no friends, no siblings, no parents and no teachers.

Our rice field was dry; streams were grassed; bathing/showering places vanished. I thought it was because of climate change. I took pictures and thought I would present the situation in Kathmandu – the capital city of Nepal – where many people from my village reside. While preparing for a presentation, I wanted to have some thoughts from Dhatananda Gyanwali, the headteacher at the time. I shared the situation and asked him whether the stream (Dhakhola) was dry because of global warming. I wanted to hear the confirmation of my opinion.

He did not take too long to disagree with me. He said – I am not very sure about global warming, but the stream you are talking about is dry because the water has been lifted and supplied for drinking water into the upper village.

Just before the Christmas of 2023, one of my friends invited us for dinner. After the dinner, we started to talk about how things have changed. For me, change is obvious. So, I had little things to argue, add and disagree with, other than spitting out terms like revolutionary, evolutionary, growth and development. The conversation continued, and my friend said – You know what? We had snow last month. We rushed to come out and made a snowman. It was a medium-sized one, not very big. We went inside the house, had lunch and took a little nap. I looked at the snowman from my window and noticed it was turning into water. When I was a child, the snowman used to last for a good few days. Now, we can see the impact of global warming.

On 29 December 2023, I was walking in a street in Johnstone (Scotland). Snowflakes dropped on my ear. It was already melted when I touched it. These three distinct and relatively new incidents made me think about climate change and global warming.

Is global warming really happening that fast? Or are we hyping it because we are reading, listening and talking about it all the time, and our brain is automated to respond that way?