I think part of the reason why it's so easy for bad faith actors, conspiracy theorists, and alternative agenda types to convince the average person that climate change is a hoax is because, for instance, in my area and many others, the changes are subtle. Aside from that horrific heat dome a couple of years ago, the type of weather we are seeing is actually not that unusual. When I was a little kid, (an undisclosed number of years ago) we normally got 4 or 5 ft. of snow. Then as my kids were very small and growing, we rarely got much snow for Christmas, a skiff that melted and then maybe 8 to 12 inches in January. Then, the snow load slowly increased again and then in Feb. of 2017 we got a 5 ft. snow fall over about 3 days. For at least a dozen years, 3 or 4 feet was usual. Now we are back to warmth and rain with El Nino. This winter will again be very little snow with a lot of cloudy, rainy days.
But here's the thing. The changes are very apparent if you are paying attention, if you garden, spend a lot of time outside, use phenology for the timing of planting, harvesting and make written notes. The drought is not just lack of rain, it is deep drying of the earth so that foundations of very old houses are shifting as the soil structure degrades. It is forests so dry they burn so fast and unabated and like last summer in one area, freakily burned silently. Forest fires that burn towns so suddenly, people have to run for their lives even with our modern equipment and communications. It is weird diseases I've never seen in the garden before like asters yellow, tree stress and disease that is slowly killing off our fir forests. It is massive lack of bugs and insects, not just pollinators but all kinds. Forty years ago, the only rats were in coastal areas, now inland up in the mountains, my whole area is infested with Norway and Roof rats, not just the usual pack rats. The Norway rats are taking over and it's a losing battle for many of us. And it's a complete lack of typical patterns that we use to count on, now the weird weather is rapid fire changing from one week to the next. Forecasts are less reliable even with much better equipment and methods.
People will argue until the flood waters have gone over their head whether it's man-made or not. But, at the end of the day, all we can do, should do, must do, is try to live lighter on the planet, take care of this precious land we live on, and provide as much education and knowledge that we have so that we can help the next generations as much as possible.
