Bitterly Warming

As 187 million Americans have tasted the record-breaking cold generated by this mysterious “polar vortex,” thousands of flights were cancelled, streets and highways became impassable and unmanageable (the very sand and chemicals used to unfreeze street simply don’t work when the temperature is low enough), Chicago got colder than Antarctica while Green Bay was colder than Mars (how did the 49ers win?), workers and students were told to stay home, and accidents and freeze-outs damaged, destroyed and even killed! It was even too cold for polar bears and one escaped criminal who surrendered to authorities because of the frigid temperatures! Hey, you say, I thought we were suffering from global warming, not global colding! Well, you really have to look at the bigger picture. “Winters in the U.S. have been warming steadily over the past century, and even faster in recent decades, so it would take more than a few sub-zero days to cancel that out.” Science.Time.com, January 6^th.

Aside from the fact that the basic vector is about “climate change,” and that the overall trend is average warming across the board, it seems that these polar vortex phenomena are in fact a product of the movement of warm air to places where it really isn’t supposed to be. This is, therefore, a direct and immediate product of global warming. Hot and cold switched places! The movement of “inappropriate” hot air, not stopped by normal winds and typical temperatures, effectively displaced the cold air, pushing it southward. Further, in the process of hot and cold airflows slamming into each other, the giant cyclone (a polar hurricane if you will) that you see pictured above results. As we freeze, by the way, folks down Australia way are experiencing a record-breaking heat wave.

In this last big freeze, warmer air built up over Alaska and Greenland, forcing this massive spinning to take place, pushing colder air south. “Usually the fast winds in the vortex—which can top 100 mph (161 k/h)—keep that cold air locked up in the Arctic. But when the winds weaken, the vortex can begin to wobble like a drunk on his fourth martini, and the Arctic air can escape and spill southward, bringing Arctic weather with it. In this case, nearly the entire polar vortex has tumbled southward, leading to record-breaking cold…” Science.Time.com

Weather patterns often start in the upper atmosphere. “Large atmospheric waves move upward from the troposphere — where most weather occurs — into the stratosphere, which is the layer of air above the troposphere. These waves, which are called Rossby waves, transport energy and momentum from the troposphere to the stratosphere. This energy and momentum transfer generates a circulation in the stratosphere, which features sinking air in the polar latitudes and rising air in the lowest latitudes. As air sinks, it warms. If the stratospheric air warms rapidly in the Arctic, it will throw the circulation off balance. This can cause a major disruption to the polar vortex, stretching it and — sometimes — splitting it apart.

“The polar jet stream thrives on a balance between cold air to the north (Arctic region) and warm air to the south (mid-latitudes). However, the SSW [sudden stratospheric warming, which many experts is part of global warming] creates an imbalance (warmth to the south and to the north); as a result, the polar jet weakens and the circulation slows down dramatically in the Arctic. The atmosphere continually works to remove imbalances, so, with the polar jet weakened, the midlatitude jet stream gathers strength. Wave-like features become deeper, both the downward dips (‘troughs’) and upward bulges (‘ridges’). In some cases, surface high pressure will develop and remain in place along an axis from Ontario to Greenland (reflecting the negative NAO [North Atlantic Oscillation; see below for an explanation of this pattern]), blocking low pressure systems to the south and east across the eastern third of the U.S. In other cases, a blocking pattern will form elsewhere across the globe, with the coldest, stormiest conditions affecting Europe and/or Asia…

“A lack of blocking over or near Greenland – indicative of the positive phase of the [NAO] – does not bode well for sustained much below-normal periods (the kind that last longer than 2-3 days)… If we were to enter a sustained period of below-to-much below-normal cold — the kind that lasts for a week or longer — it could happen in February (but it is far from a sure bet). By that time, any response from the sudden warming of high altitude air in the polar latitudes (i.e. the SSW event) would have been realized.” Washington Post, December 31^st.  This weather pattern then smashed into Europe, sending massive ocean waves crashing into the U.K.

This build-up of inappropriately warm air was the trigger, and misery was the result. Is this the last of this nasty phenomenon for a while? Unlikely, as this piece points out. In fact, after a brief warming trend, another (albeit milder) version of this polar vortex is heading back to the United States this coming week! Yet we’re still bragging about our new-found fracked fossil fuel strength/independence, and 60 Minutes is running misleading stories about the “failure” of green energy technology! This is hardly going to begin to reverse this hyper-accelerating damage that we have wreaked upon ourselves through greenhouse gas madness!

I’m Peter Dekom, and exactly when are the American people going to buy into this cause and effect thang… and then demand that our government actually do something about it?