After a Christmas without snow across much of the country and seesawing temperatures throughout January, Canada's winter sports season has been drastically reduced to the great dismay of locals who are experiencing more and more such effects of climate change. "It's an exceptional year. I don't remember ever opening the rinks this late in the year," says Martin Letendre, parks foreman with the city of Montréal for the past 20 years. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES N°34G49BV