Winter weather has become a harbinger of climate justice agitation. In the past, frigid snaps were exploited by eco-warriors to “prove” global warming, as climate scientists predicted colder extremes as part of global climate change. Actual science has now disproved that hackneyed assertion, so alarmists have pivoted from manipulating arctic blasts to “prove” global warming to discrediting anyone who questions the official (if fictional) narrative.
A Moving Climate Target
Typical headlines currently dominating the cacophony of mainstream media propaganda include titles such as “Why we still have brutal cold snaps even as the planet warms to record levels.” The jargon now indicts “conservatives [who] use cold snaps to dispute climate change” as a pre-emptive effort to discredit anyone who dares do what green militants routinely do – use every anecdotal weather event to rattle sabers for the end of the world.
(Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Americans are witnessing more than mere hypocrisy – this clueless disconnect reveals that science is the last thing that the pseudo-scientific climate activists wish to consult. The green tea leaves predict the end is nigh. Every single wildfire affirms the vision – even if ignited by a clan of arsonists. Every record hot day “proves” climate change and human-caused at that. Every flood, drought, hurricane is leveraged into a Thunbergian ballyhoo to terrify.
Exploiting Cold Snaps
Recently it got really cold, really fast across many regions of the United States. “Hold on,” say the alarmists, “that doesn’t mean anything. All roads MUST prove anthropogenic climate change; alternative discussions are verboten!” El Nino, a known climate contributor, was predicted to cause a warm winter and brutal cold spells – that is largely ignored. Consideration of other factors, however well scientifically established, is simply not done.
The evolution of environmental propaganda is visible. A 2017 Forbes commentary titled “A Response For People Using Cold U.S. Weather To Refute Climate Change” averred that “there are some studies that suggest that a warming climate (because more water vapor is available to a warmer atmosphere) may fuel bigger blizzards or snowstorms. That science is also emerging.” Well, that science has “emerged” and been increasingly questioned. Warming trends have yet to be proven “anthropogenic,” so it seems clear scientific proof has taken a back seat to ideological conviction.
El Nino Still Exists
Thus, eco-alarmists have shifted from “record cold is caused by climate change” to “conservatives are wrong to use record cold to refute climate change.” A Jan. 16 article by the Associated Press titled “US in deep freeze while much of the world is extra toasty? Yet again, it’s climate change” claimed this apparent contradiction “fits snugly in what climate change is doing to Earth.” The piece then favored a single scientist who claimed cold outbreaks are caused by climate change and stated, “It’s a theory still debated by climate scientists but growing in acceptance.” El Nino goes unmentioned.
However, 2024’s winter is expected to be warmer due to the long-studied effect of El Nino. CBC News reported:
“[E]very couple of years the polar vortex is disrupted, splitting into multiple ‘lobes’ that extend south. That disruption also causes the polar jet stream to weaken, which can help push and hold the freezing air over parts of Canada and the US.
“Even though the polar vortex is strongest in winter, it can be disrupted by certain patterns in the upper atmosphere. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, those patterns can become more common in late winter during El Niño years.”
A Predictable Ideological Pattern
The ideological pattern is far easier to discern than that of the weather. Climate warriors continue to abuse science by claiming that the current cold snap is further evidence of climate change, even as they mock detractors for using the same event to question their wobbly models. This knee-jerk adherence is so profuse it has become predictable – here at Liberty Nation in December:
“El Nino is predicted to be very strong in the coming months, warming many areas. (Climate Crisis!) It is also predicted to amplify swings in the polar jet stream, causing sharp cold snaps. (Climate Crisis!) Cold or hot, El Nino or El Nina, all temperatures and storms precipitate howls of doom and demands for increased power from the Climate Warrior Clan.”
Weather has always been unpredictable. Lately, meteorologists trying to forecast next week’s storms sound more like charlatan pretenders than scientists. Though they can’t seem to predict local temperatures accurately three days out, Americans can correctly predict what the climate alarmist community will hysterically claim even years from now.
