The Washington Times has published a radical interpretation of the recent east coast snow storm: hard proof that global warming doesn't exist.
The lengthy op-ed 'Snowmageddeon is nigh' concludes like so:
Those who value freedom should thank Mother Nature for her sense of humor, undermining the case for global warming one flake at a time. So although we're quite tired of shoveling, we say, "Bring on the blizzard."
Climate scientists however, have stressed again and again that this basis for supposedly debunking global warming is totally false, and that overwhelming scientific data supports the existence of climate change -- this is not challenged by individual snowstorms. Severe weather, both hot and cold, are a part of climate change.
From a recent AP article:
"It's part of natural variability," said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. With global warming, he said, "we'll still have record cold temperatures. We'll just have fewer of them."
This isn't a unique approach among conservatives who doubt global warming. Sen. Jim DeMint (R- SC) chimed in with a tweet today echoing the Times' message:
It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries "uncle"
The New Republic pointed to The Drudge Report's strategy of attempting to tie weather to global warming science in a post from December titled 'It's Always Snowing On The Drudge Report.'
Is a "record cold" in Idaho threatening your potato crops? Never fear, Matt Drudge will post a link. Snowing in Houston? Drudge has the scoop! Blizzard delaying your flight out of JFK? You get the picture. Drudge's climate denialism is well known, but his tendency to cite Accuweather.com is, well, odd....
And here's where Drudge gets tricky. By putting these reports alongside stories that cast doubt on global warming (he loves a press release from Senator Inhofe almost as much as he loves taking pot shots at Al Gore), Drudge is trying to get you to scoff at, well, almost all of the scientific literature on the subject. It's like flashing tasty images of popcorn and sodas between frames at movie theaters, only much less subtle.