The Atmospheric and Environmental Research saying that northern winters are becoming milder, showing yet another effect of global warming.
That Climate Change Thing Again!
For the third year in a row, the northern parts of our globe are enduring a super strange winter. Part of the chain reaction of the rapidly melting Arctic ice caps, what’s interesting is that these warmer winters mean terribly cold temperatures elsewhere.
Hang on a second. Warming Arctic poles melting, spewing out water into the sea, raising our sea levels, and melting sea ice mean colder weather and snowier winters in the northern hemisphere? Exactly, and this warm arctic—cold continents theory is starting to make sense now in light of recent activities. [Editor’s note: This has long seemed like a logical result of warming in the Arctic to me. Imagine you put an ice cube in a bowl of water and bread. What happens to the bread that is sitting near the ice cube? It gets colder. (Additional note: I realize this is an experiment you have probably never conducted.)]
Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at AER and lead author of the study recently told CNN: “Because we could perform analysis on over 6,000 data points in comparison to less than 30 data points in previous studies we could show a much more robust (and statistically significant) relationship between the warm Arctic and increased severe winter weather in the mid-latitudes,”
If you are an avid alpine skier or snowboard fan, then mark your calendar, as a correlation between warmer Arctic temperatures seems to mean heavier snowfall elsewhere.
Cohen’s coauthor, Jennifer Francis, added: “Five of the past six winters have brought persistent cold to the eastern US and warm, dry conditions to the West, while the Arctic has been off-the-charts warm. Our study suggests that this is no coincidence. Exactly how much the Arctic contributed to the severity or persistence of the pattern is still hard to pin down, but it’s becoming very difficult to believe they are unrelated.”
Caveat In Data Interpretation
Both quote the “Beast from the East” and its snowstorms with frigid temperatures in Europe. Still, a correlation between Arctic warmth and US winter extremes might not indicate causation. Most feel that in any event, the connection is too strong and logical to ignore.
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