I just found this song. WOW! Pete has a way of finding great songs and stories in books! This is so well done!
As for climate change, I live in Atlanta, on a small lake. The whole yard is a slope, but the bottom 20' is only a few feet above the water, and level.
Twice before, in our 24 years here, has the water risen into our yard. But this year, we've had two big rains where the water came 20' into the yard. And another time,the water came in maybe 10'? Only one was the remnants of a hurricane. The water never does any damage, and is drained away by the spillway once the rain stops. This was all in a 6 week period?
So the climate seems to be changing to me. But I suspect we won't freeze to death down here...