Publication Date December 15, 2015 | The Atlantic

70-Degree Days in December: What?

United States
Sunny, clear days; 70-degree breezes: This is not what December is supposed to feel like around these parts. Something feels deeply wrong. Alexis Madrigal, an Atlantic contributing editor, coined a term for such weather: “climate changey.”
A man exercises in Manhattan during an unseasonably warm December Sunday. Lucas Jackson / Reuters
A man exercises in Manhattan during an unseasonably warm December Sunday. Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Sunny, clear days; 70-degree breezes: This is not what December is supposed to feel like around these parts. Something feels deeply wrong. Alexis Madrigal, an Atlantic contributing editor, coined a term for such weather: “climate changey.” Scientists repeat that few individual weather events can be linked to climate change, and yet, how can an iced-coffee Advent be normal? Surveying an unprecedented California heatwave, historic flooding in South Carolina, and a strange and perplexing sandstorm in Tel Aviv, he wrote in October: “We need a word that reflects the basic anxiety of not knowing what the weather means anymore.” Climate changey is that phrase...Again, scientists haven’t connected the strength of this El Niño to climate change, so you should feel free to enjoy the warmth, despite the climate-changey vibes. But a recent study indicated that global warming is likely to bring more mega El Niños like this one.