Global Warming is not the opposite of Snow

But first a little basketball....

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Oh, by the way, the next commenter who refers to me as a "Glen Beck" is banned forever and can never by my friend. Do you understand? Good.

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Warmer ocean == more evaporation == more water in the atmosphere to freeze into snow == bigger snowstorms where the temperature is appropriate (which is not that cold). El Nino is a larger driver than GCC in the short term. These folks have no concept of scale.

By Gray Gaffer (not verified) on 11 Feb 2010 #permalink

I love Bill Nye the Science Guy, but the IPCC was awarded the Peace prize, not "a science prize" and as for who discovered climate change - well, Spencer Weart's definitive book is a good start there.

By Marion Delgado (not verified) on 11 Feb 2010 #permalink

Marion, I am not real happy with Bill's stints on Rachel. This one was actually better than some of his earlier appearances. But I still cringed a few times.

Unfortunately, it's really common for people to confuse short-term weather and long-term climate, and not just for ideologically-driven reasons. My guess is that it's probably because most people simply don't think about climate over the long term, or how long-term changes might effect society as a whole. Two common reactions to global warming and climate change concerns seem to be "This winter was colder than last winter - how can the earth be getting warmer?" and "I'm all for global warming if it means less of this &#$@$ snow and a longer summer."

I'd just like to point out that when I referenced Glenn Beck on that other thread, I wasn't refering you as Glenn Beck. ;)

Nobody says that snowstorms prove global cooling or disprove global warming. "Skeptics" are merely making sarcastic comments to point out the hypocrisy of alarmists when they kept claiming droughts, warm spells, hurricane Katrina, even tsunamis and earthquakes were proof of global warming.

By Patrick Bateman (not verified) on 13 Feb 2010 #permalink

"hypocrisy of alarmists when they kept claiming droughts, warm spells, hurricane Katrina, even tsunamis and earthquakes were proof of global warming"

It is not always hypocrisy. It has been known for nearly 20 years that warming of the atmosphere could manifest itself in increased number and intensity of weather anomalies. True, it is impossible to say for certain if any particular untypical event is due to warming or not. But if the number and intensity of those events increases as observed it is warning sign at the least.