http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18140179/
It's true that global warming can cause shifts in precipitation patterns. That includes both droughts and an increase in severe precipitation events.
But here is a better response to people who claim that a stretch of cold weather proves that global warming isn't occurring:
1) Global warming is about CLIMATE change. Climate is not weather. Weather considers the temperature over short time periods, like days and weeks. Climate is the average weather over a much longer period, like 30 years. This is important because the long-term averages in temperature determine things like glacial melting, the ocean temperature (stronger hurricanes and higher sea levels from the expansion of warmed water), the overall evaporation of water (droughts), and migration and hibernation patterns of wildlife.
2) With this definition, there is no question that the climate is getting warmer. Since record keeping began in 1880, for the entire globe, 2005 was the warmest year, and 2006 the sixth warmest. Including 2006, six of the seven warmest years have occurred since 2001. Ten of the warmest years have occurred since 1995. For the contiguous U.S., 2006 was the third warmest year on record.
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