Are cold snaps a valid argument against climate change? 

Periods of cold weather are often brought up by climate change critics, but it’s not the right way to analyze global changes.PORTLAND, Maine — Over the next several weeks in our Maine’s Changing Climate series, NEWS CENTER Maine meteorologists are responding to common myths about climate change. Now that winter has arrived, there’s a good chance you’ve heard this phrase thrown around: “Global warming can’t be real. It was so cold today!”
Claim: Cold snaps are evidence against global warming This is No. 4 on our list breaking down climate myths. There are a few reasons why this statement isn’t true. To start, we have to go back to basics. By definition, weather and climate are not the same. Weather takes into account what you would expect: temperature, precipitation, wind, sky condition, etc. at a certain place and time. Climate, however, operates on a much larger scale. It involves these weather conditions at a place but averaged over time. The standard time period is 30 years. This means the weather you experience day-to-day is not reflective of the climate at large. You have to look at weather conditions of a period of years to see how things change.Words and their definitions aside, there is also overwhelming evidence the climate is warming despite cold snaps.In fact, 2023 was the hottest year on record, and it topped the chart for the top 10 hottest years on record after 2010. The shift is also quite drastic. The average global temperature has skyrocketed since the 1850s. Why the 1850s? Well, that’s when the Industrial Revolution began to expand beyond England, and the use of greenhouse gases exploded. It’s important to remember that one weather event is not indicative of how a climate is changing. That said, extreme cold events may become less common as the climate warms, while extreme heat and other extreme weather events become more common. In conclusion, no. Periods of anomalously cold weather are not an argument against climate change because weather and climate are not the same.RELATED: Is sea level rise greatly exaggerated? Debunking common climate myths