by Vijay Jayaraj

The mainstream media (MSM) wants the world to believe that climate change has turned us into rotisserie chickens. However, real-world temperatures are not warming to dangerous levels, nor are they going to.

Australia’s ABC news, for example, tells its readers that the “influence of climate change ensures nearly every season is now warmer than normal.” Yet, in 2022 Australia experienced the coldest spring in 30 years! Major cities like Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra recorded their coldest maximum temperatures.

This mismatch between reality and the MSM narrative has been widening in recent years. Computer models are becoming increasingly erroneous in their predictions of future weather and misleading policymakers into believing that doomsday is imminent.

The danger of cold weather is seldom acknowledged by an MSM that has sold its soul to the apocalyptic narrative. For the common people in the Northern Hemisphere, cold events pose more of a risk because the entire policy framework emphasizes addressing a supposedly warming world than being prepared for frigid spells.

As a result of the replacement of fossil fuels with ineffective wind turbines and solar panels, Northern Europeans approach winter with increased energy costs and the prospect of regional blackouts – all in the name of averting a fabricated climate emergency.

In the UK, the Met Office has issued a level three warning as cold Arctic air is set to sweep across the nation. A severe cold weather alert included forecasts of -10 degree Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) in some parts.

“Look out for friends and family who may be vulnerable to the cold, and ensure they have access to warm food and drinks and are managing to heat their homes adequately,” advised the Met Office. “Avoid exposing yourself to cold or icy outdoor conditions if you are at a higher risk of cold-related illness or falls and stay up to date with the latest weather forecasts.”

Rather than ensure adequate energy supplies, the British government adheres to a cultish climate orthodoxy as it speaks to citizens as though they are children.

Bloomberg energy analyst Javier Blas worries about a complacency regarding the European energy crisis:

“The astronomical winter doesn’t start until Dec 21. Ahead lie the 100-plus coldest days of the year. And we simply don’t know whether the season will be normal, mild or bitingly cold…. The reality is: Energy prices remain extremely high, the continent is at the mercy of the weather, the cost of subsidies is rising at an unsustainable pace, and companies are warning of deindustrialization.”

Northern Hemisphere snow accumulations reached historic highs this year. Greenland’s Surface Mass Balance readings—difference between snowfall and runoff—were above the 1981-2010 mean. Satellite temperature readings of the Arctic’s lower troposphere show no major warming since 2014. Data illustrate a dynamic climate system with the likelihood of all types of weather, not a planet uniformly and disastrously overheating.

The challenges of winter weather would have been much more manageable if European leaders had not shifted their economies away from coal, oil and natural gas in favor of expensive and unreliable green technologies. Of course, the damage of this folly has been compounded by the disruption of energy markets by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Human progress in the last two centuries has been phenomenal, and one of the greatest achievements has been the development of electricity and fossil fuels to fend off the cold of harsh winters. We are now undoing this feat and putting millions at risk of freezing in the name of a faux climate emergency. Society’s most vulnerable will suffer most as political elites remain comfortable in plush abodes.

This commentary was first published at American Thinker, December 9, 2022, and can be accessed here.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, UK and resides in India.