Photo by Trinity Kendrick ‘21
By Dnyaneshwari Haware ’23
Staff Writer
An increase in harsh winters around the world may seem contradictory to the phenomenon of global warming. Yet recent research has found that global warming could be causing increased snowfall, lower temperatures and even the polar vortex.
NASA records show that the 10 warmest years have occurred since 1997, and the National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration reports that recent decades have been the warmest since around 1000 A.D. In 2006, higher temperatures caused Ohio’s Lake Erie to not freeze for the first time in history and led to increased snowfall due to greater evaporation from the lake.
In the past week, snowstorm warnings on the East Coast have been linked to the Arctic’s increased warming. As the area is heating faster than any other on Earth, research suggests that the warmer temperatures are “weakening the jet stream, which encircles the pole and holds in the frigid air,” according to The New York Times.
The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of Earth’s poles. The term “vortex” refers to the counterclockwise flow of air that helps keep the colder air near the poles. The occurrence of the “sudden stratospheric warmings” directly affects the polar vortex which causes the arctic air to spread downward through the atmosphere, cooling areas more intensely. This phenomenon is also behind the unusual amount of snow received by Madrid this winter, which has been the city’s highest recorded snowfall in the last five decades.
While some research predicts that winters will become shorter and milder, other reports state harsher winters with more intense snowstorms, illustrating the extreme and disruptive nature of climate change. Research regarding this topic is ongoing, and connections between the transition of climate and environmental phenomena like the polar vortex are being studied more closely.