This time of the year brings back so many wonderful things: the smell of falling leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, warm woolen blankets, the denial of climate change ...
Wait, what?
It's the same story as it has been every year for the past decade or so. Many of us in New England experienced a large (but temporary) dip in temperatures early last week, just as we do every fall in this area. As tiny flakes of snow emerged, so did one of the climatologists' favorite phrases:
"Look, it's snowing! Global warming can't exist!"
This practice has grown common -- especially among politicians -- since Al Gore ran for president in 2000. That is why it came as no surprise when presidential candidate Donald Trump came out with this shameful little gem via Twitter:
It's really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Oct. 19, 2015Clearly, Trump has no understanding of how global warming actually works. If he did, he would realize that weather and the climate are two very different things. Weather on Earth changes on a seasonal (and in New England, sometimes even daily) basis but overall climate should generally remain the same from year to year.
That's not the case, though. Research has proven that carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is served as the main player in raising global temperatures, has been increasing at an alarming rate since the '60s. At the same time, sea levels have been rising, the Arctic ice cap has been withering away, and ocean life is being killed by the acidity that carbon is adding to their ecosystems.
Another thing that Trump may be interested to find out is that climate change actually causes much more intense, abnormal storms than usual, mainly because storms gain energy from passing over warmer water, which is also a result of climate change. Could that be why New England has been seeing a huge increase in deadly hurricanes, tropical storms, and early snowfall as of late? Beats me!
Not understanding climate change is one thing, but denying it and mocking it is another. Donald Trump -- or any politician, for that matter -- denying climate change on the basis that it snowed would be like jumping in the air to prove that gravity doesn't exist: It just doesn't work that way.
