Study: Arctic Warming is Causing Colder, Crazier Winters




Warmer-than-average years in the Arctic trigger colder-than-average winters in North America, Europe and Asia, study finds

Boston 2015, Credit: Peter Enyeart, via Flickr

If you, like Donald Trump, are wondering “where the hell is global warming?” during the “bomb cyclone” this winter, hang tight. Some friendly climate scientists from NASA, Stanford, Columbia and Harvard are about to break it down for you.




Yes, we have been experiencing record low temperatures and record high snowfalls about every other winter lately. No, that does not mean global warming is not real.

It means the ice in the Arctic is melting because the average temperature of the Earth, overall, is on the rise. As the Arctic warms, it’s causing shifts in what’s called the polar vortex—a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.

A 2016 study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research a 2017 study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society explain how it works.

The counter-clockwise flow of air that defines the polar vortex helps keep colder air [circulating] near the Poles,” a Popular Science article summarizes the studies’ findings. “But when sea-ice north of Scandinavia and Russia melts, the now ice-free ocean releases more warmth, which can rise as far as 18 miles into the stratosphere. It weakens that counter-clockwise circulation, allowing more cold air to escape further south.”

The authors of the 2017 study found that 80 percent of the coldest winters across North America, Europe and Asia and over the past 40 years corresponded with the warmest years in the Arctic.

NASA photo surveying Arctic ice melt




“Our latest findings not only confirm the link between a weak polar vortex and severe winter weather, but also calculated how much of the observed cooling in regions like Russia and Scandinavia is linked to the weakening vortex. It turns out to be most,” said study co-author Judah Cohen a climate scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

These intermittent “Arctic” winters are even worse in Asia and Europe than they are in North America. In 2012, many Russians froze to death as the nation registered the coldest winter (-58 F ) in over 70 years.

Even scarier than being trapped inside by the furnace all day, are the effects that these abnormally cold winters are having on our ability to grow food.

Warmer years in the Arctic trigger not only colder winters, but colder springs the following year, according to another recent study, published last August in Nature Geoscience.This results in reduced vegetation growth and lower CO2 uptake capacity in North American ecosystems, according to the study’s authors.And of course, reduced vegetation growth and less capacity for soil to sink carbon, results in desertification and more global warming.
Luckily, this man has a plan to break the vicious cycle.
RELATED: Cows aren’t Causing Global Warming, Factory Farms Are





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11 responses to “Study: Arctic Warming is Causing Colder, Crazier Winters”

  1. FAS Avatar
    FAS

    Bwhahahaha

  2. Mike Gould Avatar
    Mike Gould

    Yeah so that means if it was COLDER in the arctic than it is now, it would be WARMER HERE! LOL! SO the colder it gets in the arctic the warmer it is in central Canada and Russia etc, right? And if it gets WARMER up in the arctic, then obviously it gets COLDER in Canada, Russia, etc. Am I catching on? But a few years ago, alarmists were saying we were going to have snowless winters and warmer weather and rising oceans NONE of which has happened, so now we are to believe in COLDER WINTERS! DO you realise how stupid this is getting? WHO pays you to write this shit anyway?

    1. Sara Burrows Avatar

      Wow… just wow.

      1. Mike Gould Avatar
        Mike Gould

        LOL Someone writes an article saying that it is getting colder because its “getting warmer” and I am the nutjob? Hahahaha! Joke is you.

        1. Ty Archer Avatar
          Ty Archer

          YUP! blind ignorance of the know FACTS.
          Re-read the article your book report gets a “D” By the way What is your scientific background?

    2. Janet Lippis Avatar
      Janet Lippis

      You are a complete moron, Mike Gould!

      1. Mike Gould Avatar
        Mike Gould

        No, the morons believe that it is getting colder because the arctic is getting warmer. Tell me smart girl… what would be happening if the Arctic was getting COLDER? Your logic dictates that it would be not getting colder. You are a complete moron, Janet Lippis.

  3. Mike Gould Avatar
    Mike Gould

    FUCK YOU SARAH or whoever the FUCK didnt like my comment and decided not to allow it. Gee thats just par for your fucking BULLSHIT COURSE! ASSSHOLES!!!

    1. Janet Lippis Avatar
      Janet Lippis

      Your comment is there, how do you think we replied to it. Oh, you don’t get it, just like the article…I see.

      1. Mike Gould Avatar
        Mike Gould

        I replied January 5. Not Jan 7th.

  4. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    “If you, like Donald Trump, are wondering “where the hell is global warming?” during the “bomb cyclone” this winter, hang tight. Some friendly climate scientists from NASA, Stanford, Columbia and Harvard are about to break it down really simple-like for you.”

    Well written article except the above quote. I didn’t realize we needed everything dumbed down to ensure we comprehended-and I don’t care to hear an opinion on Trump. Whether we like it or not, he’s our president. Like I said, interesting article, but leave the damn opinions to yourself. I take offense when a writer assumes the readers are incapable of understanding anything above a fifth grade reading level.