Winter Storm Warning for Millions As Bomb Cyclone Set To Hit
NewsweekDEC 2025
'Bomb Cyclone' Hits US With Blizzards, 350K Power Outages
Is climate science cherry-picking disasters, or are warming oceans and atmosphere genuinely intensifying extreme weather events like "bomb cyclones"?
Above: A man shovels snow in Brooklyn after an overnight storm in New York City on Dec. 27, 2025. Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The Spin
Climate-concerned narrative
Bomb cyclones are intensifying because global warming fundamentally alters the atmospheric stage where weather unfolds. Warmer oceans and air hold more moisture, fueling heavier snowfall rates, while Arctic warming weakens temperature gradients and makes jet streams more erratic. Rising seas amplify coastal flooding during these storms, creating compounding disasters that will only worsen without bold climate action.
Climate-skeptic narrative
Not every bomb cyclone is proof of escalating climate catastrophe. These storms long predate modern warming, and attribution science remains mixed on individual events. Scientists once warned in 2000 that children wouldn’t know snow in a few years — a claim reality never bore out. A quiet 2025 hurricane season with zero U.S. landfalls gets ignored, while major storms are highlighted, underscoring the need for analysis that weighs both reinforcing and complicating evidence.
Metaculus Prediction
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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0