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Why winter cold spells are getting milder

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 563 words · By Weronika Osmolska
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What to know about Why winter cold spells are getting milder

The article discusses a study on the frequency and intensity of cold spells across the northern hemisphere since 1980. The findings suggest that cold spells are becoming less frequent, less intense, and less persistent, primarily due to rising average temperatures associated with climate change.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The Beast from the East ravaged much of the UK and Europe in February and March 2018, bringing severe storms, snow showers and bitter winds.

Why it matters

But as the climate changes, rising average temperatures will affect the severity of extremely cold weather like this.

Common ground

In our latest study, my colleagues and I have considered how cold spells – defined as extended periods of extremely low temperatures between November and March – have changed since 1980.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The article discusses a study on the frequency and intensity of cold spells across the northern hemisphere since 1980. The findings suggest that cold spells are becoming less frequent, less intense, and less persistent, primarily due to rising average temperatures associated with climate change.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/why-winter-cold-spells-are-getting-milder-288038

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7
info Single Source 3
schedule Pending 1
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Claim 1: “In the same manner, cold spells in Europe are becoming 0.6 to 0.9°C warmer per decade.”
CORROBORATED
The specific warming rate of 0.6 to 0.9°C per decade for European cold spells is reported by RTÉ and The Conversation independently of the original cross-reference.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sep 29, 2026 · In the same manner, cold spells in Europe are becoming 0.6 to 0.9°C warmer per decade. Similar warming rates are also found in North America and in East Asia. The...
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2026/0929/1593296-winter-cold-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 24, 2026 · In the same manner, cold spells in Europe are becoming 0.6 to 0.9°C warmer per decade. Similar warming rates are also found in North America and in East Asia. The...
https://theconversation.com/why-winter-cold-spells-are-getti…
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web search NEUTRAL — Across the northern hemisphere, cold spells are becoming milder as overall temperatures rise, with their intensity decreasing by 0.3°C per decade. Similarly, cold spells in Europe...
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-winter-cold-milder.pdf
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 2: “Large-scale cold spells in the northern hemisphere occur as a result of cold air intrusions, caused by the meandering of the polar jet stream.”
CORROBORATED
The mechanism of cold air intrusions caused by the meandering of the polar jet stream is confirmed by both the cross-reference and 'The Conversation' web search result.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sep 24, 2026 · Large-scale cold spells in the northern hemisphere occur as a result of cold air intrusions, caused by the meandering of the polar jet stream. Characterised by a flow...
https://theconversation.com/why-winter-cold-spells-are-getti…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 15, 2022 · Large meridional excursions of a jet stream are conducive to blocking and related midlatitude weather extremes, yet the physical mechanism of jet meandering is not well understood. Jul …
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/35/6/JCLI-D-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 23, 2021 · Using a novel method to assess Granger causality, we show that the polar vortex provides predictive information regarding severe cold air outbreaks over multiple regions in the Northern…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-021-00215-6
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 3: “In Europe, regional cold spells are declining in frequency by nearly one day every year.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is found in the cross-reference and corroborated by a web search result from 'The Conversation' (via 'Why winter cold spells are getting milder').
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Winter blocking and ridge patterns are key drivers in the occurrence of regional cold and warm extreme temperatures, respectively. In summer, they are associated with substantial changes in the freque…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351604064_Links_bet…
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web search NEUTRAL — Across the entire northern hemisphere, cold spell days have decreased by about 20 days per decade. In Europe, regional cold spells are declining in frequency by nearly one day every year.
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2026/0929/1593296-winter-cold-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Deep in the remote Himalayan region of western Nepal, Dolpa is a place where winter can transform the entire landscape into a world of snow and silence. In this video, we take you inside one of Dolpa’…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqMPnyZbH-I
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 4: “temperatures in this region [the Arctic] rising at a faster rate than the rest of the world”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources (Geographical, various news analyses) confirm 'Arctic amplification', stating the Arctic is warming 3 to 4 times faster than the global average.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Arctic: The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average.We all live in Lake Woeonus, where it’s always worse than we thought, there are always five years left to SAVE THE PLANET!, …
https://www.wmbriggs.com/post/43453/
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web search NEUTRAL — The Arctic is warming up to three to four times faster than the global average warming rate. This is known as Arctic amplification, an observed phenomenon where near-surface temperatures in the Arctic…
https://geographical.co.uk/climate-change/the-worlds-five-fa…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sea‑Ice Loss Fuels Accelerated Arctic Warming. The rapid temperature rise is tightly linked to the ongoing retreat of sea ice.According to analyses cited by Gerard, the Arctic is warming at a rate tha…
https://www.bioscience.com.pk/en/subject/environmental-scien…
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 5: “the area covered by cold spells in northern North America is getting smaller every decade.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim regarding the decreasing area of cold spells in northern North America is only found in the cross-reference. Wikipedia results provided are general geographical entries and do not corroborate the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The British colonization of the Americas is the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by England, Scotland, and, after 1707, Great Britain…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_colonization_of_the_Am…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, also called Indians, Amerindians, or simply Natives, are the peoples who are native to the Americas or the Western Hemisphere. Their ancestors are among the pre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Amer…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Cari…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 6: “Across the entire northern hemisphere, cold spell days have decreased by about 20 days per decade.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported in the cross-reference and explicitly corroborated by a web search result from 'The Conversation' (via 'Why winter cold spells are getting milder').
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "Cold Cold Cold" is a song by American alternative rock band Cage the Elephant. It was produced and co-written by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and was released as the third single from the band's fo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Cold_Cold
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00 K on the K…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Easter…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 7: “The persistence of cold spells in northern North America and southern Europe is decreasing by about a tenth of a day each year.”
SINGLE SOURCE
This specific statistic (decreasing by a tenth of a day each year) is only found in the cross-reference. Wikipedia results provided are irrelevant (Cold War, 2014 cold wave).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Easter…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The January–March 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013–2014 winter season, and was also part of an unusually cold winter …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January–March_2014_North_Ameri…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent that receive less than 10 in (250 mm) annual precipitation. The "North American Desert" is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_deserts
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 8: “Across the northern hemisphere, cold spells are becoming milder as overall temperatures rise, with their intensity having decreased by 0.3°C per decade.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figure of 0.3°C per decade is mentioned in the cross-reference and one web search snippet, but the web search snippet appears to be a mirror of the same source (Phys.org). No second independent organization confirms this specific number.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Across the northern hemisphere, cold spells are becoming milder as overall temperatures rise, with their intensity decreasing by 0.3°C per decade.
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-winter-cold-milder.html
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Claim 9: “in northern North America, cold spells were still found to become less severe [when the background temperature rise was removed].”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 10: “Similar warming rates are also found in North America and in East Asia.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that North America and East Asia show similar warming rates is corroborated by RTÉ and The Conversation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Asia ( AY-zhə, UK also AY-shə) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land ar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Determining the boundaries between the continents is generally a matter of geographical convention and consensus. Several slightly different conventions are in use. The number of continents is most c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundaries_between_the_contine…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — North Asia or Northern Asia (Russian: Северная Азия) is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and consists of three federal districts of Russia: Ural, Siberian, and the F…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Asia
+ 4 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “The Beast from the East ravaged much of the UK and Europe in February and March 2018, bringing severe storms, snow showers and bitter winds.”
CORROBORATED
The event is confirmed by multiple independent sources including Wikipedia (2018 British Isles cold wave), Yahoo News, and other web search results, all specifying the timeframe of February/March 2018 and the impact on the UK and Europe.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the "Beast from the East"; Irish: An Torathar ón Oirthear) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Har…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_British_Isles_cold_wave
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Reform UK, also known as the Reform Party or simply Reform, is a right-wing populist and far-right political party in the United Kingdom. It has eight members of Parliament in the House of Commons, tw…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It compr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom
+ 4 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.