'Whatever happened to global warming': Trump targets climate change activists as cold wave expected to hit 40 States

As a winter storm is set to sweep across a huge part of the United States this week, bringing bitterly cold temperatures and putting more than 175 million people at risk of power outages and major travel disruptions, US President Donald Trump on Friday took a swipe at climate change activists.

Trump took to Truth Social and said, “Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

Trump signed a memorandum on January 7 (local time) ordering the pull out of United States from international organisations, conventions, and treaties deemed “contrary to the interests” of the country. The move was detailed in a White House statement outlining the Presidential Memoranda, which said the US would withdraw from 35 non-UN organisations and 31 United Nations entities.

Among the non-UN organisations affected are the India- and France-led International Solar Alliance, as well as prominent environmental organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The storm is projected to reach its peak on Friday, with Texas already declaring an emergency in advance of the dangerous conditions. Forecasters say parts of the mid-Atlantic could receive more than a foot of snow, with Virginia and Maryland expected to be among the hardest hit as Arctic air settles in.

US weather channels have issued stark outlooks, warning of “crippling ice” and a 1,500-mile (2,414-kilometer) “snow zone” that could experience record-breaking snowfall. They also cautioned that freezing rain may damage trees and critical power infrastructure. In New York City, the nation’s financial hub and largest urban area, snowfall totals could reach up to 12 inches, according to the Weather Channel.

Oklahoma’s Department of Transportation treated highways in advance with salt brine, while the State Highway Patrol canceled troopers’ days off to increase staffing on the roads and mentioned it was working with the National Guard to deploy teams to assist stranded motorists.

“Travel is going to become more and more treacherous starting late Friday afternoon and lasting through the rest of the weekend,” the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, posted online.

Officials with Oklahoma City Public Schools also called off all classes and activities on Friday because of forecasts predicting worsening road conditions, as per AP.

According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, over 800 flights scheduled within, arriving in, or departing from the United States were delayed or canceled on Friday ahead of the approaching storm, including flights at airports in Dallas, Atlanta, and Oklahoma.