Okay, we know that last year was, overall, the hottest on Earth since the onset of modern recordkeeping, 100+ years ago. And we know that El Niño was a major factor in that. El Niño conditions release a lot of stored heat from the oceans: the last big El Niño was in 1998, and Earth has only had a half-dozen (or so) hotter years since then.
So anyway, the most recent El Niño has dissipated, the contrary La Niña has formed, and this year is supposed to be cooler than last--potentially cooler than each of the last three years, they say. (Each of the first two years in that span was a record-breaker, only to be superseded by the following year.)
So I've pretty much been expecting a harsh winter here in the Northeast U.S. But so far it hasn't been too bad. Yeah, that could change: last winter was quite mild, for instance, until a lot of places had record lows on Valentine's Day. Who knows, we might be in for a solid month of freezing temps--after all, we're only about five weeks into the new year.
But IF this winter stays mild, and IF that's the precursor to another record-warm year, then we may be in deep fat. If we get a warm year even with La Niña conditions, then that could be a sign that Earth's warming is out of control.