As part of an annual festival celebrating winter, OttawaB次元官网网址檚 Sparks Street has been lined in recent weeks with ice sculptures depicting everything from animals and flowers to a Tim Hortons cup.

But by the time Winterlude wrapped up this past weekend, some of those works of art had been rendered almost unrecognizable by Mother Nature.

That was the result of a combination of rain and three consecutive days of temperatures above 4 C last week.

The average weather for this time in February is just below -8 C, said David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada.

For many ice sculptors, the changing climate means learning new ways to adapt.

Mowafak Nema took second place at the Winterlude ice sculpting competition and said many sculptors are used to battling the elements.

B次元官网网址淚f the weather is too warm there are methods we use, if the weather is too cold there are methods we use,B次元官网网址� said Nema.

Nema also competed in unseasonably warm weather in Edmonton this winter, which made it very difficult to carve. He said the temperatures forced sculptors to put down their tools and lose a full day of the three-day competition.

To try and keep things going, the artists covered their pieces with tarps and used dry ice and snow to preserve their pieces and make them cooler.

Nema said he has been dealing with weather as long as he can remember, recalling a day 15 years ago that rain had some sculptures falling apart as the carvers worked.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 see the dramatic change in the weather,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he weather is up and down, I cannot predict it.B次元官网网址�

But the science shows CanadaB次元官网网址檚 winters are warming faster than our other seasons. Phillips said average winter temperatures are now 3.3 C warmer, compared to just 1.5 C in the summer, compared to 1947-48.

Going forward, Phillips said climate change will continue to have a significant affect on our winters with fewer days below zero and winters that start later and end sooner.

Where there used to be around 28 B次元官网网址渞eal cold daysB次元官网网址� in Ottawa per winter, Phillips said, there are now about 15 or 16 each year.

B次元官网网址淏y 2080, the models seem to suggest about five or so,B次元官网网址� he said.

While that is a long way off, the changing climate in the near future will bring more swings in temperatures and more extreme weather.

B次元官网网址淚 canB次元官网网址檛 get over this notion of the fact you canB次元官网网址檛 count on the weather anymore. It used to be that B次元官网网址� summers were hot and winters were cold, and now itB次元官网网址檚 almost as if the transition seasons are taking over some of those core seasons,B次元官网网址� Phillips said.

As for whether this mid-winter melt is a sign of things to come, Phillips said he thinks of it more as a dress rehearsal for what could become the norm in the next 30 to 40 years.

B次元官网网址擬aya Riachi, The Canadian Press