As extreme weather increases, climate misinformation adapts

A file photo of firefighters controlling a spot fire near Bredbo, south of the Australian capital, Canberra. As the impact of climate change becomes more apparent, misinformation about it is shifting to focus more and more on extreme weather, such the Texas storm or recent wildfires that ravaged California and Australia. — AP

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: Climate scientists have warned for years that a warming planet would cause more extreme storms, like the one that walloped Texas in February, knocking out power and leaving millions in a deep freeze.

Yet as the snow fell and the wind howled, some looked for other explanations for the storm and its resulting power outages. The conservative website The Gateway Pundit made the false claim that President Joe Biden’s energy policies somehow prevented Texas plants from generating the power the state needed and “led to Texans literally freezing to death”.