The evidence for a warming planet is convincing. But when we hear something in the news about record cold temperatures, or massive snow storms, it’s all too tempting to scoff, “So where’s that so-called global warming now?”
As humans, we find it difficult to reconcile what our five senses tell us about the weather outside with what scientists are saying about climate change. To understand how exceptionally cold weather and global warming could both be happening at the same time, we need to recognize the fundamental difference between weather and climate.