By: Maggie Fechtman and Sarah Manthorp
The United States is currently experiencing extremely low temperatures due to a polar vortex in areas such as Chicago and our home. Considering we are experiencing the effects of a polar vortex, it is important to understand what it is.
The polar vortex is typically found around the North Pole. It includes strong winds that are high up in the atmosphere, there to keep the freezing cold air locked in the Arctic region area. This polar vortex is not considered a weather pattern or even a single storm.
It is possible that the vortex becomes disoriented and travels much farther south than normal. The vortex looks like two swirling things of cold air, one which traveled over North America and the other one being over Eurasia. The vortex slip apart because is was a sudden stratospheric warming.
Is this vortex linked to climate change?
Studies did show that the polar vortex has settled upon heavily populated areas. Scientists are continuing to gain better understanding of why this is happening exactly, but many identify climate change as a factor. There is evidence that the jet stream of air current that flows over North America and Europe is slowing down and becoming wavier as the planet changes and becomes warmer. This jet stream interacts with the polar vortex by bringing the numbing temperatures further south than usual. Scientists have also predicted that the positive feedback loop of the melting sea caps in the Arctic is linked to the vortex. This is due to the summer heat being absorbed by the dark oceans, which is then released during the winter and causes wind that is able to disrupt the polar vortex.
Despite what many of our politicians say, it IS caused by global climate change. Global warming is no longer a valid term and an excuse for ignoring cold temperatures. Although we are experiencing extremely cold temperatures, global climate change is causing other countries to be extremely hot. In Australia, the temperatures are around 120 degrees fahrenheit, causing people to die from heat stroke and breaking temperature records.