What is going on with the weather

Lens adapted to this topic: What current forecasts show and what climate evidence adds

Mainstream meteorological reporting attributes the immediate East Coast conditions to a developing nor’easter, pressure contrasts, strong winds and coastal-water piling. Climate-science sources distinguish individual weather events from long-term climate trends, while holding that human-caused warming can increase the likelihood or severity of some extremes. They caution that one storm alone does not establish a climate trend.

• The immediate East Coast situation is a developing nor’easter, with coastal flooding, high surf, rain and strong winds expected from North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic through New England.
• The storm’s current impacts are explained by the interaction of low pressure near the coast, high pressure over eastern Canada and resulting persistent winds.
• Climate reporting commonly connects some increases in extreme-weather risk to human-caused climate change, while treating event-specific attribution as requiring precise data and analysis.
• A single storm or heat wave is weather; conclusions about climate change require examination of longer-term patterns rather than isolated events.

Lens adapted to this topic: Claims that weather extremes are overstated or misattributed

Skeptical and outsider accounts accept that severe weather is occurring but question whether individual disasters or temperature records demonstrate human causation. They emphasize natural variability, model uncertainty, satellite and balloon measurements, and possible effects of adjustments to historical temperature records. These sources focus especially on whether climate attribution and media framing overstate the evidence.

• Some climate skeptics argue that climate models have projected more warming than observed in certain satellite, balloon and reanalysis datasets, suggesting important uncertainties in model estimates.
• Some commentators argue that adjustments to historical temperature records can make earlier cool periods appear cooler and recent hot periods appear hotter, affecting record comparisons.
• Skeptical accounts challenge rapid attribution of particular disasters to global warming and argue that natural variability and local causes may be underweighted.
• Research summarized by The Conversation found that news coverage linking extreme weather to climate change may not persuade people who already reject or doubt that interpretation.