Extreme winters in US & Asia due to melting of Arctic at a hazardous pace, study reveals

Amid the heated debate of global warming around the world, researchers from the journal Science have produced a perplexing report which attributed Arctic's warming as a reason for extended periods of extreme winter in the mid-latitudinal areas i.e. regions across the US and Asia. While the statement might sound contradictory, researchers revealed that despite melting of the Arctic twice than the global average rate, winters in the aforementioned areas have intensified since the 1990s. 

What causes this dichotomy?

While many activists clash with governments regarding inaction over global warming, the papers released raise a completely different issue. According to the findings, the diminishing of northern glaciers have partly contributed to the amplified nail-biting winters in the northern hemisphere. 

The journal reported that the study combined observations and models to demonstrate that Arctic change is likely an important cause of a chain of processes involving what they call a stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) disruption, which ultimately results in periods of extreme cold. Moreover, the observations also revealed that a blanketed SPV disruption that caused wave reflection and stretching of the SPV through out-flowing winds resulted in extremely harsh winters across North America and Asia. 

The paper further explained that Arctic Amplification, rapid melting of the Arctic, is both a response to and accelerator of the decline in ice. It stated that the greatest Arctic ice loss last winter coincided with increasing snowfall and snow cover at high latitudes across Europe and Asia from October 2020 through January 2021. As per experts, these events were owed partly to the watering of Arctic glaciers, which increases moisture availability in the atmosphere. However, experts still haven't reached an agreement on whether if the two phenomena are completely interlinked.

What is a polar vortex?

Polar vortex is a term associated with an area that creates a low-pressure zone with extremely cold air. These zones are associated with Earth's North and South poles and are at their strongest during winters. The winds in the vortex generally flow counter-clockwise and keep the cold from leaving the poles. It is the escaping of these winds that results in the SPV disruption.

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