As temperatures plummeted well below zero during the first week of January in the U.S., which was compounded by harsh wind chills that made frigid air feel even more severe, those in denial of global warming may have felt they had the evidence needed to trounce argument of the planet heating up. When in scientific actuality the extreme cold weather could possibly be linked to rapid warming and manmade climate change.
What people from Minnesota all the way down to Florida were feeling was the effect of erratic jet stream configuration caused by a weakened polar vortex spinning around the Arctic, eventually spilling over to open a virtual door to a frozen front. "Arctic warming is altering the heat balance between the North Pole and the equator, which is what drives the strong current of upper level winds in the northern hemisphere commonly known as the jet stream. Some studies show that if that balance is altered then some types of extreme weather events become more likely to occur," according to the site Climate Central. And while Canada, the Midwest and Eastern Coast of the U.S. embodied an uncharacteristic tundra-like state; places like Russia experienced somewhat of a winter 'heat wave.'
Russians were surprised by their January weather this year, with temperatures in Moscow rising some 11 degrees above average and melting what's typically a snowy "New Year's spirit." "What is happening now in the US and Russia is due to "natural climactic variations," said Claire Nullis, spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). What this should remind us, supporters of global warming or not, is not to negate the worldly inclusivity in the phrase.
Whether one believes in the theory or not, what can't be denied are weather extremities happening all over the world. Despite the sub-zero temperatures in the U.S., most of Europe is doing just fine. And while deniers trump up the cold weather in support of their climate-change rejection, they forget about the adjective "global": for instance Australia-where it's summer-is experiencing an actual, alarming heat wave with some temperatures peaking over 50 C (125 F).
Although the theory of global warming is still trying to gain solidarity, scientists uncovering warming in the Arctic and melting ice creating more water which absorbs more heat from the Sun, and in turn affects the way air moves then causing the boundaries to weaken and cold air to drop down to places it's not so intensely sustained. No matter someone's stance on the matter, there is really no denying certain cycles, and the blatant connectivity in how our planet's weather works.
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