So why the heck is it STILL so cold out? We are just a week after spring break, and in the closing moments of March and beginning of April where, by all means, we should be shipping home the winter gear and opting for lighter jackets and short sleeves. Yet, a good portion of this week has been plagued with yet another snow storm. Questions about our troubling weather patterns are being asked all around, and the New York Times attempts to give some insight as to what exactly is happening here in an article published earlier this winter, “Why So Cold? Climate Change May Be Part of the Answer”.
Not surprisingly, global warming has a lot to do with this global phenomenon. The polar vortex, a frigid weather pattern normally isolated at the North Pole, has broken free and leaked out across the US, causing record breaking periods of cold temperature.
While meteorologists can’t pinpoint the exact reasoning and process behind what makes this vortex move, climate change is a key factor in its displacement. The jet stream which keeps this vortex moving in a circle around the north point of the globe is weakening as global warming heats the rest of the world up. The weaker pull is probably the cause of movement, among other factors that influence day to day weather.
Hopefully the cold makes its way out in the next few weeks because, and I don’t know about you guys but, I am so over this campus doubling as an ice rink. Fingers crossed for a few nicer days this week!
Source
Fountain, Henry. “Why So Cold? Climate Change May Be Part of the Answer.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/climate/cold-climate-change.html.
