According to President Donald Trump, if one region of the world is experiencing a cold spell, it’s iron-clad proof that global warming is made up.
On Thursday, he tweeted, “In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!”
In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
But the country’s scientists, celebrities and well-informed citizens were quick to push back against Trump’s ridiculous claim.
This is the standard dumb person line when it's cold re global warming. https://t.co/wGp06ZXWTK
— Kathleen Madigan (@kathleenmadigan) December 29, 2017
If pooping is real then how come I am standing here NOT POOPING? https://t.co/AzyhAXayDu
— Justin Halpern (@justin_halpern) December 29, 2017
This tweet will be *kisses fingers* when Mar-a-Lago falls into the sea.https://t.co/gDB4yrZ6s7
— ally (@missmayn) December 29, 2017
California is permanently on fire, but this all-hat-no-cattle cowboy is determined to fixate on a COLD WEATHER WINTER REGION at the END OF DECEMBER to deny science. Kids: this is what happens when you look directly at solar eclipses. https://t.co/vu810enKGY
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) December 29, 2017
A man with literally every piece of information in the world at his fingertips looks at COLDEST NEW YEARS EVE ON RECORD and comes up with "yeah, climate change isn't real" https://t.co/hHEwXL1YZb
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) December 29, 2017
weather ≠ climate https://t.co/geeL0tgXEO
— Bad Manners (@badmannersfood) December 29, 2017
At this point, Trump has become so predictable in his counter-science takes that The Washington Post’s weather reporting Twitter account knew exactly what he was going to say in response to the cold spell affecting much of the United States. The tweet it posted a day before Trump’s got it just right.
U.S. to be coldest region in world relative to normal over next week. Please note rest of world will be much warmer than normal lest anyone try to claim pocket of cold in U.S. debunks global warming, which they will invariably and irresponsibly do. https://t.co/hzocqUrfKp https://t.co/4uA4fJUAyV
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) December 27, 2017
Trump’s tweet is reminiscent of the presentation on the Senate floor by Sen. James Inhofe, R-O.K., in February of 2015, in which he held a snowball in his hand as proof that global warming doesn’t exist.
Ironically enough, Trump’s Irish golf course was just recently granted permission to build a seawall, reported CNBC. The initial application used global warming and sea-level rise as reasons for the construction, but those references were absent from a newer application, according to The New York Times.
The Times, along with several Twitter users, was also quick to remind Trump that weather and climate are not the same thing and that the cold weather in the eastern U.S. is not indicative of cold temperatures across the rest of the earth.
“To use an analogy Mr. Trump might appreciate, weather is how much money you have in your pocket today, whereas climate is your net worth. A billionaire who has forgotten his wallet one day is not poor, anymore than a poor person who lands a windfall of several hundred dollars is suddenly rich. What matters is what happens over the long term,” Kendra Pierre-Louis wrote.
