The Dutch canals are frozen over--a rare event that portends to become common again.

In the 19th century, when Hans Brinker, the hero of the novel in which he tries to win a pair of silver skates, coasted along Holland's ice, the canals froze almost every year. But water pollution and climate change have made this so rare that today a boy of 15, Brinker's age, may never have seen a frozen canal, or at least remember one. Until, that is, this year.

In Montreal, Canada, a city where I've spent considerable time, underground water mains that have been intact for more than a century are bursting and creating ice lakes in the middle of the downtown.

The break at Peel and St-Jacques was the 19th in as many days in Montreal.

Aging pipes have been giving way as temperatures drop to lows between –20 C and –35 C, levels Montrealers rarely see even in the coldest of winter months.

"The temperature we are experiencing is exceptional for us," said Sammy Forcillo, the city's executive committee member in charge of infrastructure.

Notably, none of these stories makes any reference to global warming. I've been around long enough to know the signs of a walk-back in the media on a political issue. After the consensus comes the silence. Next comes the retribution.

It will be interesting to see how the evidence of our goosebumps affects the political agenda of Democrats, who judging from recent reports, are still on track to push global warming initiatives.