Trump Said ‘We Need’ Global Warming to Deal With Record Cold Temperatures. Here’s Why That Doesn’t Make Sense

President Trump has been a longtime opponent of taking action on climate change, as evidenced by everything from his accusation that the phenomenon is a “hoax” created by China to his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. There are many reasons Trump may be against addressing climate change, but one thing is clear: he doesn’t understand the science behind it. On Monday, the President took to Twitter to repeat a joke he frequently makes during winter weather events — this time the record-breaking, polar vortex-caused cold that’s sweeping the midwest this week — as a reason climate change cannot be real. In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2019 The problem with Trump’s analysis is that climate and weather are not the same thing. Weather refers to the atmospheric conditions at a particular place and time. At this very moment, the weather in the midwest is freezing cold, with major snowstorms. Climate refers to the long-term atmospheric patterns in a particular area. It may hit -20°F in the midwest this week, but over the long term, the average temperature is expected to rise, as is the frequency of days with extrem...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate onetime Source Type: news