As he has done many times before, President Trump scoffed at climate change Friday because of cold weather. "Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States," he said in a Truth Social post. "Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???" Scientists say, however, that winters are still getting warmer, with extreme cold becoming less common, and there may be a link between climate change and the severe storm that will hit much of the US over the weekend.
- So how does a warming world deliver a punishing cold snap? Scientists point to the polar vortex, the high-altitude band of strong winds that usually keeps Arctic air bottled up near the pole, CNN reports. When that circular flow weakens or stretches, frigid "lobes" can spill south, as is happening now over central and eastern states.