This tweet claims that global warming is a hoax, citing reasons that Southern Calif had cold weather. Similar claims have risen online before, questioning the reality of global warming when some areas experience very cold weather. A tweet here for instance reads; “How can global warming be real if I’m cold right now”. Another tweet here also questions whether global warming is real yet there is cold weather.
Background
The debate on the reality of climate change has continuously been rife in social media spaces, with some actively denying its reality despite evidence pointing towards its reality. For instance, a fact-check published by Piga Firimbi here debunked the claim that climate change is purely determined by the earth’s distance from the sun.
Another claim debunked here disproved claims that humans have had minimal effect on climate change and there’s nothing we can do about it. This fact-check found that the recent rapid industrialization- a human activity- prodces greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Verification
By definition, according to America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA);
“Global warming is the long-term heating of earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in earth’s atmosphere.”
NASA
Despite cold weather in some areas, the decade of the 2000’s has been the warmest as found in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At the same time, according to Our World in Data, global average temperatures have increased by more than 1℃ since pre-industrial times.
NASA further defines weather as atmospheric conditions over short periods of time. Also, spelling out that climate change is not the same as global warming. Climate change is different as it is defined as a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define earth’s local, regional and global climates.
Verdict
Claims that global warming is not real because some areas experience cold weather are MISLEADING.
This fact-check was produced by Africa Uncensored with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.
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