Record Breaking Cold Weather and Global Warming

Since we began studying global warming, there has been one thing all scientists could agree on — man-made warming of the Earth will cause an increase in extreme weather events.

We are not saying that the Earth’s temperature is just going to rise. In general, as energy is added to a system, the fluctuations in the system increase. So, we expect more storms, more droughts, more wildfires, more floods, more fluctuations of all kinds. What we are saying is that weather conditions will become more volatile due to the impact of humans. — Sidd Mukherjee & Daniel Brouse (2004)

When it come to the record breaking low temperatures of 2013 and 2014 in the United States, some people are tying to diminish the importance of curbing global warming.  The extreme events appear to give some humans the excuse to be delusional about human induced climate change. However, at this point in time, it is the ocean temperature we need be most concerned about.  The changes we are seeing  help cause the increase in volatility and extreme weather events.

Sorry to say, the ocean temperature is rising more rapidly than scientist had predicted.  Because of the way the Earth is warming, island nations are feeling the heat.  In fact, 2013 was the warmest year on record in Australia.