The record highs clearly show the warm 1930s, but there is no significant trend over the 120 years of observations, or even since 1980, when human infl uences on the climate grew strongly. In contrast, the numbers of record daily cold temperatures decline over more than a century, with that trend accelerating after 1985. These two panels together show something that is completely contrary to common perception—that temperature extremes in the contiguous US have become less common and somewhat milder since the late nineteenth century.
