User: There has been almost no snow this winter and its 60 degrees in February. is this really unprecedented due to global warming, or is it fairly common for there to be warmish winters and I'm just not remembering them?
Assistant: The current warmth is very unusual, and scientists in multiple fields have linked human-caused climate change to the phenomenon of extreme warming around the world. According to a growing consensus among scientists, globally temperatures are significantly higher than they were 100 years ago, and the 3-year long warm winter we’re experiencing in the US confirms the patterns of increased warming documented around the world. February saw 21 global observing stations all record high temperature marks for this time of year, while no stations registered temperatures below average.  

Given the effects of rising temperatures on the physical environment, this extremely warm weather is certainly affecting ecosystems and habitats including coral reefs and forests.  Warming also places human populations at increased risk of drought, heat and cold-related deaths, as well as diseases and destruction from rising seas and droughts.  

While this is alarming, we do need to remember that there are multiple factors which affect winter weather and snowfall, not just climate change. We are genuinely in an anomalous warming period, but there are many other factors contributing to our changing climate.  As suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the complex and nonlinear interactions between climate change and the natural system mean such extreme weather events are expected to become more common in the future.