Why more frequent cold blasts could be coming from global warming
Why more frequent cold blasts could be coming from global warming
Frigid air that normally stays trapped in the Arctic has escaped, plunging deep into the United States for an extended visit that is expected to provoke teeth-chattering but not be record-shattering.
Summary
Polar vortex disruptions, bringing Arctic air deep into the U.S., are happening more frequently due to climate change.
The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, shrinking the temperature gap between north and south and destabilizing the jet stream.
This "stretching" or shifting of the polar vortex causes frigid air to move southward.
Despite overall global warming, colder outbreaks remain possible due to these atmospheric changes.
Experts highlight this paradoxical connection between warming and extreme cold events.