Mother nature has once more graced Huntington with a light blanket of snow, bringing the winter out from wherever it has been hiding.

Which brings up the question, “If global warming is real, why is it cold and snowing?”

The first step in answering this question is to understand the difference between weather and climate. According to NASA, weather is defined as our observations of the temperature, precipitation, barometric pressure, cloud cover, etc. on a daily basis. Climate is based on these atmospheric observations over a long period of time.

Next, one has to look at the numbers from the past few years. The World Meteorological Organization has officially dubbed 2014 the hottest year on record, making it the 38th consecutive record-breaking year.

Scientific evidence supports the theory that these waves of cold weather are actually caused by global warming.

Just because the Northeast is experiencing some snow doesn’t mean it’s colder all over the world.

Polar ice is still melting, and ocean levels are still steadily rising.

Even Congress has come around to admitting that “climate change is real and not a hoax,” as stated in a recent amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline bill.