Satellite image of monster U.S. blizzard. Courtesy NASA

Two monster storms are pounding different parts of the planet right now, and it looks like both could influence how people think about climate change. Since folks tend to think of it in terms of today’s weather, you can guess how both of these storms are likely to play. 

Way off in the Pacific, Australians are hunkering down as Cyclone Yaris spins into their lives with big winds and heavy flooding. This is the second consecutive summer of lethal fires, floods and cyclones attributed to global warming. Environmentalists there are hoping Yaris brings that connection home to dwellers down under, who’ve resisted climbing on to the climate change band wagon. Observes Reuters:

Environmentalists have despaired that one of the world's highest per-capita carbon polluters will ever embrace the need to cut emissions, given that most politicians and voters have not made a strong connection with disasters and manmade global warming.

Could Yaris and its misery be the “game changer” down there?
 
Meanwhile, a vast snow tempest is sweeping America from mid-West to the Atlantic. Wonders AOL in a storm headline: “Yet Another Snowstorm? What About Global Warming?”  AOL is asking the question millions of ordinary people are likely muttering to themselves and out loud.
 
And AOL isn’t the only news outlet taking that angle.   Dozens of bloggers and news outlets are digging into the subject. Read a good explainer on the phenomenon here.