After a climate change misinformation post using Global Snow Lab data from Rutgers University went viral, Yahoo! Sports invited David Robinson, NJ State Climatologist, director of the lab, and RCI affiliate, to debunk the false claims. The post claims that since snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere reached a 56-year high, warnings of climate change were false. “You can't link one map or even one month to global climate change. One needs to look over years if not decades to get a sense of where and why the extent of snow cover may or may not be changing," said Robinson. More recent data show snow extent in the northern hemisphere has again dropped below the record level. "Mid-November snow cover extent was well above normal across northern hemisphere lands. However, as November ends, that is not the case," Robinson said. "For instance, there has been major melting of the earlier snowpack across much of North America such that the extent for late November has fallen below normal." Trends dating back to 1981 show decreasing snow cover over time. However, this does not guarantee a decrease year-over-year.
