As warm places like Texas and Oklahoma reached record low temperatures in February, the long lasting impacts of climate change has become a serious topic of discussion. The snowstorm that hit many southern states earlier this year left people in freezing cold temperatures -without power and water for days- and cost many lives. However, this is not the first time that these places will reach shockingly low temperatures, and instead represents a pattern of extreme weather that will come in the future.  

The Polar Vortex

Let’s dive a little bit deeper into what exactly has been causing extreme weather changes in some of the warmest places on the planet. On the North and South poles of the Earth, there is a strong band of cold, low pressure winds that surround the poles. These strong winds are present at about 10 to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface. This is known as the polar vortex. When the polar vortex is stable, there is a jet stream of air that rotates around the Earth and keeps the cold air in the North (Figure 1). 

When the polar vortex weakens, the low pressure system gets disrupted. This causes the jet stream to weaken and the air is no longer contained in the poles. Instead, that cold, arctic air gets pushed away from the North and South poles onto the rest of the planet (Figure 2). 

A Possible Link Between Global Warming and the Polar Vortex 

What’s important to note is that the weakening of the polar vortex is not common, and it is usually not the cause of cold temperatures around the globe. The Earth has different seasons based on the tilt of the Earth when it is rotating on its axis. When it’s winter, the earth is tilted away from the sun, which is the winter season, and is how places usually face colder weather.  

The polar vortex typically weakens when there are drastic and unusual changes in the climate. Scientists found that sudden temperature spikes in the stratosphere, or sudden stratospheric warmings, could be a cause of a weakened polar vortex. An article by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research further explains that scientists and researchers may have found a possible link between climate change and the weakening of the polar vortex, as the earth warming can actually weaken the polar vortex.

The warming of the Earth has not only caused a drastic decrease of sea ice in the Arctic and rising sea levels, but it may have an impact on the polar vortex. Warmer temperatures and shifts in the climate can also weaken the polar vortex and dampen the strength of the jet stream, pushing cold, arctic air to the rest of the planet. It’s important to note that climate change doesn’t just entail global warming and warmer temperatures, but it also includes extreme and unusual weather changes in places that normally don’t see that type of weather. 

Will the Polar Vortex Continue to Weaken?

Studies done on the polar vortex and the weakening effect of climate change on the polar vortex are relatively new. Scientists are still looking to understand the way that global warming affects this phenomenon, what kind of correlation exists between climate change, and the strength of the jet stream. However, what some researchers have explained is that as long as the Arctic warms and the climate keeps changing in significant ways, the jet stream will only continue to weaken, pushing cold Arctic air to the rest of the planet and creating extreme weather patterns. The strange weather that many places in the South experienced earlier this year are more likely to occur in the near future. 

It is extremely important to recognize the effect that climate change and global warming play into the creation of extreme weather patterns and the steps that we can take to reverse and prevent so much of the damage that has been done to our planet. Holding corporations accountable and finding more sustainable ways to go about our daily lives are just a few steps that we can all take to reverse and slow down the effects of climate change. We have to recognize that climate change will continue to affect every part of our lives so being cautious of how we consume resources is beyond important to ensure that our planet is healthy. 

References: 

L’Heureux, Michelle. “On the sudden stratospheric warming and polar vortex of early 2021.” Climate.gov 28 Jan, 2021. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/sudden-stratospheric-warming-and-polar-vortex-early-2021 

Stendel, Martin, et al. “The jet stream and climate change.” Chapter 15. Climate Change, Third Edition. 2021. http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/~williams/publications/3-s2.0-B9780128215753000153-main.pdf 

“Understanding the Polar Vortex.” SciJinks. https://scijinks.gov/polar-vortex/

Waugh, Darryn W., Adam H. Sobel, and Lorenzo M. Polvani. ” What Is the Polar Vortex and How Does It Influence Weather?”. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98.1 (2017): 37-44. < https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00212.1>. 

“Why the Polar Vortex Keeps Breaking out of the Arctic.” University Corporation for Academic Research. 2021. https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/why-polar-vortex-keeps-breaking-out-arctic