Query: “In an old climate, … extremely warm years were less common and snowpack was more reliable …

Relevant passages:
Montreal <=SEP=> Montreal ( -LSB- audio = Montreal-English-pronunciation . ogaˌmʌntriːˈɒl -RSB- ) , officially Montréal ( -LSB- mɔ̃ʁeal -RSB- ) , is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada , after Toronto . Originally called Ville-Marie , or `` City of Mary , '' it is believed to be named after Mount Royal , though there is some debate about this . The city has a distinct four-season continental climate , with warm-to-hot summers and cold , snowy winters .   In 2016 , Montreal had a population of 1,704,694 . Montreal 's metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration , with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included . Legally a French-speaking city , 60.5 % of Montrealers speak French at home , 21.2 % speak English and 19.8 % speak neither . Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada , with 56 % of the population able to speak both official languages . Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris .   Historically the commercial capital of Canada , it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s . It remains an important centre of commerce , aerospace , finance , pharmaceuticals , technology , design , education , culture , tourism , gaming , film and world affairs . Being the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization , Montreal is one of three North American cities home to organizations of the United Nations ( along with New York and Washington ) and also has the 2nd-highest number of consulates in the continent . Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design . In 2009 , Montreal was named North America 's leading host city for international association events , according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress and Convention Association ( ICCA ) . According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit , Montreal ranked 14th out of 140 cities .   In the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking , Quacquarelli Symonds ( QS ) ranked Montreal as the world 's best city to study abroad . Also , Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled . The Greater Montreal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America . It even ranks higher than Boston , the intellectual capital of the U.S.   Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events throughout its history , including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games . It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics . Currently , the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One , the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival . In 2012 , Montreal was ranked as a Beta + world city .

Durban <=SEP=> Durban ( eThekwini , from itheku meaning `` bay/lagoon '' ) is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal . Durban 's metropolitan municipality ranks third among the most populous urban areas in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town . It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg . It forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality . Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa . It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city 's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches . The municipality , which includes neighbouring towns , has a population of almost 3.5 million , making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent . It is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal which is the 2nd most populous province in South Africa . It has the highest number of dollar millionaires added per year of any South African city with the number rising 200 per cent between 2000 and 2014 . In May 2015 , Durban was officially recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan , Doha , La Paz , Havana , Beirut , and Kuala Lumpur .

Podlaskie Voivodeship <=SEP=> This is an article about a present administrative unit of Poland . For historical units , see History of Podlaskie Voivodeship .   Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( Województwo podlaskie , -LSB- woje ` wuctfo-pod ` laskJe -RSB- ) is a voivodeship ( province ) in northeastern Poland . It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west , Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest , Lublin Voivodeship to the south , the Belarusian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east , the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and Marijampolė to the northeast , and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the north .   The capital of Podlasie Province is Białystok . The province was created on 1 January 1999 , pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998 , from the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and the eastern half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship

Taiga <=SEP=> Taiga ( -LSB- ˈtaɪɡə -RSB- -LSB- тайга́ , p = tɐjˈɡa -RSB- from Turkic ) also known as boreal forest or snow forest , is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines , spruces and larches .   The taiga is the world 's largest biome apart from the oceans . In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States ( northern Minnesota through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Upstate New York and northern New England ) , where it is known as the Northwoods or `` North woods '' . In Eurasia , it covers most of Sweden , Finland , much of Norway , some of the Scottish Highlands , some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland , much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean ( including much of Siberia ) , and areas of northern Kazakhstan , northern Mongolia , and northern Japan ( on the island of Hokkaidō ) . However , the main tree species , the length of the growing season and summer temperatures vary . For example , the taiga of North America mostly consists of spruces ; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce , pines and birch ; Russian taiga has spruces , pines and larches depending on the region , while the Eastern Siberian taiga is a vast larch forest .   A different use of the term taiga is often encountered in the English language , with `` boreal forest '' used in the United States and Canada to refer to only the more southerly part of the biome , while `` taiga '' is used to describe the more barren areas of the northernmost part of the biome approaching the tree line and the tundra biome . Hoffman ( 1958 ) discusses the origin of this differential use in North America and why it is an inappropriate differentiation of the Russian term . Although at high elevations taiga grades into alpine tundra through Krummholz , it is not exclusively an alpine biome ; and unlike subalpine forest , much of taiga is lowlands .