Can the argument be made that cold is caused by global warming?

Question

Many use cold temperatures to prove global warming is real.

How can a contradiction prove something is true? Or how can you prove something is right with contradictions?

How much cold would be required before believers acknowledged that global warming is over?

Would you believe global warming is done if the ice caps cover New York City once again?

Nova - The Earths climate always changes. It's never the same. Climate change is normal and expected. It's as natural as a summer rain.

Francis - The ski season is great this year. There more snow in the US, Canada, and the Alps then there has been is many years.

Is "global warming" over?

Answer 1

They are so far out from real events why not make this a part of global warming too?

Answer 2

the correct term should really be "climate change" and not global warming. and yes it can cool things down.

for example, if the ice caps melt (which IS due to a higher general temperature)than the gulf stream would stop moving. northern europe and england would be in for an ice age, as well as a significant difference in southeastern america. it has already happened.

yes climate change has occurred naturally, but its occurring even more rapidly than ever before.

Answer 3

Last I heard people were saying global warming is a misnomer.
The correct term was "climate change".
Maybe that will clears things up.

Answer 4

Unfortunately you fail to provide a link to a credible source making that specific blanket statement that "cold temperatures prove global warming is real."

What I'd expect to see instead (if you'd be so kind as to provide the link) is that the climate getting generally warmer on a global basis does not suddenly remove natural variability or banish cold temperatures. In other words, cold temperatures through natural variability is entirely consistent with global warming theory (or GW theory would have been modified or replaced by now). One point that is made by GW theory is that increasing temperatures will provide a much stronger driver of weather (such as hurricanes, the strength of which is driven by heat in tropical seas) so natural variance may be greater, although I haven't seen that particular point specifically tied to cold temperatures.

One specific case where cold temperatures support the theory behind greenhouse gasses causing global warming is in the Antarctic. In 2004 Shindell and Schmidt (link below) found that depleted ozone levels and greenhouse gases are contributing to cooler South Pole temperatures. In other words, if greenhouse gases weren't causing warming, the regional reduction of those gasses wouldn't be causing the observed regional cooling.

Note that evidence for a reduction of greenhouse gasses causing cooling is far different from your statement "cold is caused by global warming." In fact, it's evidence that a reduction in greenhouse gasses can work to address the warming that has been observed.

Edit:

Your example of the ski industry is also highly misleading. Fifty-five resorts in 14 states are buying renewable energy to offset part or all of their power needs, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Of these, 26 are operating 100% on green energy.

Perhaps you know more than the folks in Colorado whose jobs require them to become informed on the risks to the ski industry:

"We as a company and us as an industry are really kind of leading the way amongst corporate America in doing the right things for the environment," Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said.

It won't take much to affect operations, according to chief executive Pat O'Donnell, whose company runs Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk:

The rub, O'Donnell says, is that his resort doesn't start to make a profit until March. "It takes us 100 days of the 140 we're open to break even. ... If we have a good March, we have a good year." Poor snowmaking can mean "you lose that base in March, particularly on the bottom third of the mountain."

Snowmaking is temperature-sensitive, O'Donnell says. Once the mercury rises above the mid-20s, "you're playing with fire," he says, and snowmaking boosts power costs in warmer weather. "If the temperature changes by a degree or two, it can really affect our ability to lay down (snow) early on."

• Aspen's climate has already changed noticeably in the last 25 years. "Temperatures have increased by about 3 degrees and the average number of frost-free days per year has increased about 20 days," the study said.

• Total precipitation decreased 6 percent over the last 25 years while snowfall is down 16 percent.

• Higher temperatures are inevitable even if the world's nations make progress on global warming. Aspen's temperature increases will range from 6 to 14 degrees by 2100, depending on how aggressive the response is to global warming.

• Most of Aspen's precipitation will fall as rain rather than snow. "Snowpack will decline, and peak runoff will occur earlier in the spring," the study said. "Summer and fall stream flows will be reduced, potentially declining below the minimum needed to protect aquatic species. The greater the temperature rise, the more extreme these effects will be."

And in Utah:

"To be honest, if in 100 years we don't have a ski resort, that's the least of our problems," said Brent Giles, director of operations at Park City Mountain Resort. "Global warming is big, and it's scary."

There is still a "window of opportunity for all of us to help save our snow," said John Cumming, chief executive of Powdr Corp., parent company of Park City Mountain Resort.

This is how a water district summarized last year's snowpack in the basins affecting their supply:

http://www.padredam.org/PDFs/NovDec07Newsletter.pdf
2007 snowpack in the Colorado river Basin
40% of Normal

2007 snowpack in the Sierras
30% of normal

Answer 5

yes