Both Fox News and the New York Post advanced Donald Trump's false claim that this is the “coldest winter ever.” In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global land and ocean surface temperature for December 2009 was the eighth warmest on record, and January was the fourth warmest on record.
Fox News, New York Post advance Trump's false claim that this is “coldest winter ever”
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Fox & Friends, New York Post advance Trump's false claim that this is the “coldest winter on record”
NY Post uncritically quoted Trump saying “the coldest winter ever recorded.” On February 14, the New York Post reported that “Donald Trump is not a big believer in global warming” and quoted from Trump's speech in front of the Trump National Golf Club. From the New York Post:
Donald Trump is not a big believer in global warming. “With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore,” the tycoon told members of his Trump National Golf Club in Westchester in a recent speech. “Gore wants us to clean up our factories and plants in order to protect us from global warming, when China and other countries couldn't care less. It would make us totally noncompetitive in the manufacturing world, and China, Japan and India are laughing at America's stupidity.” The crowd of 500 stood up and cheered.
On Fox & Friends, Trump again claimed “we're having the coldest winter ever.” On the February 19 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy asked, “Hey, what global warming? Remember the weather outside? Well, Al Gore's prize theory called into question after the harshest winters on record.” Trump claimed, “You have the Nobel Prize going to Al Gore; we're having the coldest winter ever.” He also claimed that “New York is warm compared to Europe. I have friends over there. They say the coldest they've ever remembered.” Doocy claimed that “people close to Al Gore and part of that movement say, 'Look, people are saying it's a cold winter; weather ... isn't the same as climate.' ” Trump responded by saying, “Well, they always have an answer, and they always say, you know, then you -- then they get caught sending emails around talking about it as being a big con from the big scientists.”
Fox chyron during Trump interview: “Coldest Winter on Record.” During the interview, the following on-screen graphic aired:
In fact, global temperatures so far this winter are some of the highest on record
NOAA: December 2009 was the eighth warmest on record. According to NOAA, “The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for December 2009 was 0.49°C (0.88°F) above the 20th century average of 12.2°C (54.0°F). This is the eighth warmest December on record.” From NOAA:
NOAA: January 2010 was the fourth warmest on record. According to NOAA, “The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2010 was 0.60°C (1.08°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F). This is the fourth warmest January on record.” From NOAA:
Think Progress: “Following the hottest decade on record,” we are in the “hottest winter” and “January was one of the hottest Januaries on record for the planet.” In a February 16 post, Think Progress responded to Trump's National Golf Club speech by noting, in part, that "[f]ollowing the hottest decade on record, we are now in the hottest winter in the satellite record, and this past January was one of the hottest Januaries on record for the planet."