Seventy degrees in January! I'm tired of hearing people shout, "This is global warming!"

While I do appreciate the concern with global warming, I must inform the public of a few things. Based on recent scientific evidence, many meteorologists, including myself, will tell you that the warmer winter we have been experiencing is due to El Niño and not global warming. El Niño is the warming of Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Peru and is known to cause early mild winters across the Northeast. While temperatures in the Northeast region have averaged 15 to 20 degrees above normal over the last few weeks, other cities like Denver have experienced record-breaking snowfall with more on the way. In addition, cities well outside the U.S., including Zyrjanka, Russia, are already 20 degrees colder this year than last.

I'm bothered when people look at one single city or even their state and then create their own global theory of weather. Reporters have to break the habit of doing these stories. It's not good journalism. We must use good science and recognize what is happening around the rest of the globe in order to make judgments on global warming. I did see Inconvenient Truth and I support many of the facts and findings in the movie. One of the most fascinating things about the weather and climate is that it is always changing.

Meteorologists have come a long way in the last 100 years to predict weather, broadcast weather and educate people on climate change, but it is important that we understand the recent warmth in the Northeast is not a direct result of global warming.