Arctic Haze (1987? to the tune of “Silver Bells”)

City street lights, through the ice fog, blink a bright red and green
As the shoppers skid home with their treasures.
Hear the snow squeak, feel the nose tweaked, ’tis monoxide’s big scene
And above all the bustle you see,

Arctic haze, arctic haze,
It’s Christmas time in the Northlands
See the fog, smell the smog,
Soon it will be Christmas day

In the taiga, on the tundra, mines and factories expand,
And their high stacks pour forth lots of carbon.
Heat the air up, melt the ice sheets, bring the oceans on land
And in Arctic air masses you see:

Arctic haze, arctic haze,
It’s Christmas time in the Northlands
See the fog, smell the smog,
Soon it will be Christmas day

Strictly speaking, Arctic Haze is a springtime phenomenon, the result of winter pollution being advected into the Arctic. But this way makes a good carol.
The photo, by the way, was taken about 2 pm December 9 in a parking lot in Fairbanks, temperature somewhere around the – 20’s. (The bank thermometers couldn’t agree.) Mine at home reads – 40 and it doesn’t matter whether it’s Farenheit or Celsius, because they’re the same at forty below.