David Newland

These days, there seem to be two kinds of weather.

There’s the ordinary weather, which is what we call the combined factors of temperature, humidity, and wind speed in the atmosphere. That’s what you see when you look out any window.

And there’s the virtual weather, which is what I call the combined factors of news, opinion, and gossip in the media. That’s what you see when you turn on a screen.

Real weather, which we used to worry about a lot, has becomes less and less of an issue for most contemporary urban Canadians.

We don’t need to worry about what’s going on outside our windows, because we’re going to drive or take transit or a bus or a train or a plane wherever we go, and wind up in a climate-controlled building when we get there. For the brief periods we actually spend outdoors, we can wear state-of-the-art clothing to keep us warm, or cool, as need be.

Virtual weather, which we used to be quite ignorant about, before communication brought the whole world to our screens, is now a constant issue. Whatever may be out the window, what we see when we open Windows is bound to be concerning.

Which means we get other people’s weather to worry about.

A typhoon brewing over the Pacific Ocean is a common source of anxiety, whether we’re affected or not; whether we know anyone there, or not. Same with floods and fires and hurricanes, all around the world.

But virtual weather isn’t just weather. It’s also political tension in the Middle East. Or the state of the economy of Greece. Or who’s snubbing who in Hollywood, for that matter.

These things worry us, just like the weather used to do.

And you can’t dress for trouble overseas, or possible immanent economic collapse.

With the real weather, you dress for it, avoid it, or embrace it. “Go play in the snow,” my mother used to tell my sister and me, and we did, and we loved it.

With the virtual weather, we mostly just worry.

The real weather is now balmy and snow-free across much of Canada in January.

Good thing we have so much virtual weather to worry about, or we might find ourselves enjoying this.