Cold Perception
2026-01-25
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The American Midwest has been hit with an extreme cold front, with temperatures in my area dipping to -20 C and wind chills exceeding -30 C at times. We received a small amount of snow, and with temperatures this low, it's not going away anytime soon.
Four out of the last six winters here, including this one, have had cold snaps of this intensity at least once. That's unusual for us: we often gets winter lows of about -5 C, or maybe -10 C at worst, but not -20. Having such lows several years in a row is even stranger.
In a way, the timing is unfortunate. Many Americans are skeptical about the entire premise of man-made climate change, while others debate its severity and possible long-term effects. We are often told about record heat waves in Europe, droughts in Africa, deforestation in South America, and islands in Oceania that are slowly being swallowed up by the sea. Meanwhile, we in the United States see blizzards and shattered low-temperature records. It can be hard for the average person to believe climate change is a real issue: after all, they feel the frigid air on exposed skin, they see the snow with their own eyes. As Chico Marx once gibed, "Who you gonna believe? Me, or your own eyes?"
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[Last updated: 2026-01-26]