The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) borrowed some of the Midwest’s arctic chill in an ice cold clapback on Tuesday.
The criticism was in response to President Donald Trump’s inaccurate assertion about Global Warming—specifically, his implication it doesn’t exist given recent freezing cold weather patterns.
“In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded,” Trump tweeted Monday, sarcastically asserting, “What the hell is going on with Global Waming [sic]? Please come back fast, we need you!”
In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2019
The NOAA was one of many critics of the President’s misinformed statement, tweeting a delightful illustration and a link to one of the agency’s 2015 articles explaining how “Winter storms don’t prove that global warming isn’t happening.”
Winter storms don't prove that global warming isn't happening. https://t.co/LDqfq4JH9n pic.twitter.com/ndmLD637Cb
— NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAAClimate) January 29, 2019
“Not only are severe snowstorms possible in a warming climate, they may even be more likely,” the agency wrote in its piece that asks “Are record snowstorms proof that global warming isn’t happening?” in its headline, and answers the question in the one-worded lede: “No.”
The NOAA explains that the freezing snowstorms to which Trump is referring could be due to the rising ocean temperature.
“These storms draw much of their intensity from the extreme contrast between cold air over land and warmer, wetter air from over the ocean,” the NOAA writes. “Warmer ocean temperatures may make the air aloft warmer and moister, amplifying the contrast. That wetter air is then brought into the storm system, producing large amounts of snow.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has questioned global warming, and his assertions haven’t only drawn ire from federal agencies.
As “just another 18-year-old” put it:
https://twitter.com/thebuttcracker7/status/1065521728296640512
It’s ice cold both outside and on the internet today.