Donald Trump said America would benefit from “a little bit of that good old global warming” as much of the US has been inundated with snow and subjected to frigid weather.

“In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record,” the President said in a tweet.

“Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against.”

Mr Trump has long evinced a deep scepticism of the near-universal consensus that human activity is altering the climate, saying at one point that the notion was a “hoax” invented by China.

Experts generally prefer the term “climate change” to “global warming” because the effects of humans emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases are more likely to manifest as extreme weather events rather than temperature increases alone. Mr Trump has rejected that distinction as a distraction by the “dollar sucking wiseguys”.

Trump praises withdrawl from 'expensive and unfair' Paris climate agreement

Scientists who study the effects of climate change warn against conflating weather and climate. The former refers to short-term atmospheric conditions and discrete events like rain and blizzards, while climate refers to long-term weather patterns in a given area.

Data show global average temperatures steadily rising since the end of the 19th century. In California, scientists say climbing average temperatures and drier weather are likely exacerbating wildfires of the type that have scorched hundreds of thousands of acres across the state in recent months.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

While scientists typically avoid attributing individual weather events to climate change, some have noted that warmer water and rising sea levels augment the likelihood of powerful hurricanes after a series of formidable storms — Harvey, Irma and Maria — battered Puerto Rico and the mainland US this year.

On the same day Mr Trump advocated more “global warming”, the National Weather Service's Los Angeles branch noted two localities exceeding previous record temperatures for this part of the year. Southern California in general has been experiencing “dry, unseasonably warm weather”, the service noted.

In the latter part of his statement, Mr Trump seemed to be alluding to the Paris climate accord, a pact that he pulled the US from in a move the President said would prioritise American economic interests.