Record cold temperatures are continuing across the eastern and midwestern United States today with a blast of Arctic air scientists warn is part of a pattern fueled by climate change. In Kentucky, temperatures are in the negative digits, about 40 degrees below normal. Here in New York state, Martin Napier was among those who visited the iconic Niagara Falls — which is frozen.

Martin Napier: “It was like a wall of ice, with lots of stalactites. There was a few stalactites and stalactites made of ice, you know, like icicles. So it was cool. It was completely different from when you’re there in the summer, when it’s just a wall of water, eh? So it was a wall of ice.”

The record cold follows what government scientists have just confirmed was the second warmest January on record worldwide. And while New York City may be among some 100 cities currently experiencing record-breaking cold, a new report from the New York City Panel on Climate Change finds average temperatures here could jump nearly 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the 2080s.