What's with this Weather?
The icy grip of winter has been encompassing much of the United States. By now, the phrase "polar vortex" has become all too familiar to all of us. Low-pressure systems typically strengthen in winter and weaken in summer. When the polar vortex is strong, the Westerly winds blow hard; when it weakens, the cold air escapes. It seems that in January & February 2014, cold air escaped the Arctic vortex and raced south across much of North America.
These extreme cold events have us all questioning how changes in Earth's atmosphere could be creating warmer temperatures in the Arctic and that are weakening the vortex and leading to more cold weather outbreaks. The White House released a two-minute video last month in which science advisor Dr. John Holdren explains why we might expect to see more extreme cold events in the future. In the video, Holdren explains that the temperature difference between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes is shrinking and that temperature difference is what drives the polar vortex. Great that we know that,
But ...
what does this all mean to our children?