Climate Change Denial Myth #5: But It's Cold Outside!

Another common argument used by climate change denialists is "but it's cold outside!" It happens every winter when there's a cold spell or large snow fall. If there are a few record colds set, the denialists are out in full force claiming this is easy proof the climate isn't changing. Sigh. It's a very short sighted argument that doesn't understand the difference between climate and local weather. Even with a warming planet, it can still be cold out at times and record low temperatures can still be set. It's all about the trends and the trends clearly point to warming temperatures overall across the globe.

The chart below is a great example of why looking at record low temperatures does not debunk climate change and global warming.

Ratio of record highs to record lows as reported at Climate Central.

Record low temperatures still occur but the ratio of high temps to low temps is growing. In this current decade, the number of record high temperatures broken is double that of record low temperatures. The fact that there are record low temperatures, but not as many, is evidence of an increasingly warming planet. The very argument denialists use to debunk climate change actually supports climate change!

Don't fall for the emotional pleas of the denialists. Stick to the facts and the truth will be with you. In this case, those facts point to a warming planet. We don't want a warming planet, but the facts are the facts.