How do the experts explain 'global warming' when the weather has been so cold and wintry?

Answer 1

Global Warming, if it is really a climatalogical phenomenon currently taking place, would merely be another in a pattern of warming and cooling that have been taking place for millions of years. The earth has undergone countless periods of cooling and warming. 10,000 years ago, large glaciers and ice sheets covered much of the Northern Hemisphere - the ice was hundreds of feet thick over what is now New York City, for example. But over the next several thousand years, the earth gradually warmed (from various sources) and the ice melted and glaciers retreated, and we have a world that is familiar to us now. Many people believe that an increase of a degree or two in the 'average' temperature of the earth would not necessarily be a bad thing - growing seasons would be longer, more food could be grown, and the use of fossil fuels to heat our habitats would drop. And, when one looks at the past few hundred years, many more thousands of people freeze to death during 'cold snaps' around the world that die from heat waves. In Europe a few years ago, a cold snap and severe winter was blamed for over 25,000 deaths. This is far more people than die during heat waves in the same area. (Thanks in no small part to technology such as air conditioning and refrigeration to keep food from spoiling.)

Answer 2

Global warming refers to the long-term increase in Earth's average temperature due to human activities like burning fossil fuels. Weather patterns can still include cold periods, but overall global temperatures are increasing. This can lead to more extreme weather events, including cold snaps in some regions as a result of disruptions in the jet stream.