(Source)
For a large part of the United States, today marks the first snowstorm of the winter season. The cold temperatures and white snow remind people of hot chocolate, snowmen, and red noses.
They also make people forget about global warming.
According to Republican Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma, snow means it’s “very, very cold out”, and cold weather seems contradictory to global warming- especially the warming. A lot of people have trouble believing in global warming for this reason, so, every year, when snowstorms come back on the radar, people say- and tweet– some outlandish things.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
This is because many people don’t understand the difference between weather and climate. NASA defines weather as individual events that occur in Earth’s atmosphere, rain storms, cold fronts, etc. Events that affect your day-to-day life are what makes up weather. Climate, on the other hand, is weather over time and space. So, global warming means an increase in temperature of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, and the climate patterns in 2016 follow that increase.
An increase in temperature means an increase in water vapor- and precipitation, such as snow and extreme precipitation is an effect of global warming. So, whether you’re out there enjoying the snow or inside enjoying a reason not to go out, enjoy it but remember what’s causing the intense weather switches.
