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Climate Change And The Polar Vortex
This winter has seen some brutally-cold weather in many places, some of it record-breaking. Predictably, some climate-change deniers point to this as evidence that the climate is not warming at all. They are quite wrong.
For starters, it is essential to understand the difference between
climate and weather. Climate is the
average weather patterns in a region over extended periods of time. Weather is the short-term fluctuations in
temperature, precipitation, barometric pressure, wind, and so forth. There can be extremes in weather of many
types in a given climate region including very cold weather in a warming
climate.
The recent cold weather events in the U.S. stem from the flow of
Arctic air into southern regions. Such
flows are impacted dramatically by the behavior of the jet stream. These high-altitude east-to-west winds are
driven by temperature differences between cold arctic air and warm tropical air
and play a huge role in our weather.
The Arctic has seen extremely unusual warming due to the changing
climate, weakening and fracturing the polar vortex, which is a persistent
low-pressure area near the pole. The changing air flow from the Arctic causes
the jet stream to take wild swings. When
it swings further south, it causes cold air to reach farther south. These swings tend to hang around for a while,
leading to extended periods of cold weather in the winter and, actually, extended
periods of warm weather or even droughts in the summer. Studies have predicted that extreme, deadly
weather events could increase by as much as fifty percent by 2100.
As more Arctic air flows into southern regions, North America can
expect to see harsher winters. The
warming climate doesn’t always lead to warmer weather.
**********
Web Links
Why cold weather doesn’t mean climate change is fake
Photo, posted January 30, 2019, courtesy of Kyle via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
View all episodes
By Randy Simon
4.7
1515 ratings
This winter has seen some brutally-cold weather in many places, some of it record-breaking. Predictably, some climate-change deniers point to this as evidence that the climate is not warming at all. They are quite wrong.
For starters, it is essential to understand the difference between
climate and weather. Climate is the
average weather patterns in a region over extended periods of time. Weather is the short-term fluctuations in
temperature, precipitation, barometric pressure, wind, and so forth. There can be extremes in weather of many
types in a given climate region including very cold weather in a warming
climate.
The recent cold weather events in the U.S. stem from the flow of
Arctic air into southern regions. Such
flows are impacted dramatically by the behavior of the jet stream. These high-altitude east-to-west winds are
driven by temperature differences between cold arctic air and warm tropical air
and play a huge role in our weather.
The Arctic has seen extremely unusual warming due to the changing
climate, weakening and fracturing the polar vortex, which is a persistent
low-pressure area near the pole. The changing air flow from the Arctic causes
the jet stream to take wild swings. When
it swings further south, it causes cold air to reach farther south. These swings tend to hang around for a while,
leading to extended periods of cold weather in the winter and, actually, extended
periods of warm weather or even droughts in the summer. Studies have predicted that extreme, deadly
weather events could increase by as much as fifty percent by 2100.
As more Arctic air flows into southern regions, North America can
expect to see harsher winters. The
warming climate doesn’t always lead to warmer weather.
**********
Web Links
Why cold weather doesn’t mean climate change is fake
Photo, posted January 30, 2019, courtesy of Kyle via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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