Much of the confusion comes from the existence of the "Little Ice Age". It is convenient for many to take that as the "normal" climatological situation and then, using that as a base-line, declare the normal climate to be extreme.

Greenland is so named because when discovered it was green. The island was settled by farmers until the late Fifteenth Century when they were frozen out.

No one knows what caused the "Little Ice Age", no one knows what ended it not all that long ago. The sun is now known to be a long period variable star, perhaps a coincidence?
President Reagan summed it up nicely, "Some people go through their entire lives wondering if they made a difference, Marines don't have that problem!!!"