2/2 © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas address the media during a joint press conference after a meeting in Berlin 2/2
By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK (Reuters) – People who deny that the severe winter could be linked to climate change are showing “total ignorance,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, days after the state American from Texas was hit by a historic and fatal freeze When asked if global warming played a role in America’s severe weather, Guterres said climate change could make “all storms, all swings … more extreme.” Scientists widely agree that climate change is causing wilder weather around the world, including stronger hurricanes, more intense heat waves, and more erratic rainfall patterns. Determining whether climate change is behind a single weather event, such as this week’s extreme cold in Texas, is more complicated; Scientists can investigate the climate link in a weather event, but that will only reveal the probability of the event occurring. “If you look at hurricanes, if you look at storms, but also if you look at heat waves and cold waves, they are becoming more extreme because of climate change,” Guterres told reporters. “Climate change is amplifying.” When people claimed that the extremely cold weather was evidence that global warming was not happening, they said, “This is a total lack of scientific knowledge, this is total ignorance.” Scientists say climate change, specifically the rapid warming of the Arctic, could be a factor in the cold this week in Texas, although more scientific research would be needed to confirm any links.
