I don't know about you, but this winter has been something else. I'm usually one of those people who can find joy in every season (who knows how long we'll have them!). But when my bike ends up sitting in the shed for more than a few days and I have to coax my dog into going for a walk, even my patience runs out.

Cold weather reliably brings one thing with it: right-wing politicians and online trolls mocking what many scientists describe as the "greatest threat of the century". Posting things like "And this is supposed to be climate change?" along with pictures of people shovelling snow or dusty old articles predicting the end of winter. Gerald Grosz, a former FPÖ and BZÖ politician, even sets fire to a Christmas tree in a video "to make climate change come faster" — winter is, after all, "beating climate ideology".

Reality is, of course, not as simple as demagogues like Grosz make it sound. "A cold January doesn't contradict the fact that climate change is happening," says Klaus Haslinger from GeoSphere Austria (an explanation is also provided by the ÖAW)…

Read the full article at: falter.at