Eastern Australia is experiencing one of its wettest-ever second six months on record while Europe and North America have been deluged by severe snowstorms and freezing conditions.
Barry Hunt, an honorary research fellow at the CSIRO's Marine and Atmospheric Research unit, says global temperatures will continue to rise even if there is another cold snap.
"Over the last century, the global mean temperature has gone up by 0.8 degrees [Celsius]," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday, adding that was due to global warming.
"But at the same time, we also have natural climatic variation, and you don't get one or the other, you get them both. They interact."
Mr Hunt has found that there still will be cold snaps up to 2050 even with greenhouse warming.
"The climate deniers think that unless you've got constant warming, every year, that greenhouse warming has gone away," he said.
"They forget about the natural variability."
Mr Hunt maintains the scientific basis for global warming is "very sound".
"The basic long-term trend over the next 100 years is for a steady global warming, and over most of Australia we can expect to see rainfall decline.
"Despite the variability from year to year, there will be a long-term drying trend over most of Australia."
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