Science | climate change Killer Storms, Mild Winters: That's Climate Change Atmospheric physics are apparently behind it By Neal Colgrass Posted Feb 18, 2013 6:13 PM CST Copied Pedestrians make their way down a road during whiteout conditions in Salisbury, Mass. Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Climate skeptics may be chuckling, but scientists say our odd mix of extreme snowstorms and otherwise-mild snowfall is caused by climate change. Apparently it's all atmospheric physics: Lower temperatures give us more rain and less snow, but a warmer atmosphere can retain and drop more moisture, which leads to storms like don't-name-it-Nemo. And man-made global warming is likely behind it all. Statistics back up the odd feast-or-famine winter weather, the AP reports. Twice as many heavy snowstorms have struck the US in the past half-century than over the previous 60 years; at the same time, the Northern Hemisphere's spring snow cover has dwindled by about 1 million square miles. "Shorter snow season, less snow overall, but the occasional knockout punch," says a Princeton climate scientist. "That's the new world we live in." Read These Next Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Rubio says the fate of Iran's conversion facility is what matters. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Some of the most explosive Diddy allegations are dropped. Report an error