Climate change and the jet stream. A team of climate scientists believe theyve found a direct tie between climate change and extreme weather due to the jet stream.
A new study provides evidence that climate change may be affecting the northern hemisphere jet stream which appears to be moving north and slowing down.
Jet stream and climate change. Climate change and the jet stream Rising global temperatures from global warming are affecting the jet stream and in turn the weather. Climate change is making the jet stream wilder Science technology Sep 10th 2020 edition O N SEPTEMBER 7TH in Denver Colorado the temperature reached 34C 93F 6C above what is normal for. Unprecedented summer warmth and flooding forest fires drought and torrential rain -- extreme weather events are occurring more and more often but now an international team of climate scientists.
When prolonged periods of severe weather strike two things often get the blame these days. Normally the jet stream flows east over the Gulf of Mexico and turns northward pulling up moisture and dumping rain onto the Great Plains. Such amplified waves have coincided with heat and cold waves droughts and flooding across the world.
If one part of the climate system changes the rest of the. Aerosols have a cooling effect that partially counteracts the jet stream changes caused by greenhouse gases said co-author Dim Comou a climate and extreme weather researcher at the Potsdam. Recall that in spring in the Northern Hemisphere the suns vertical rays go from striking the Tropic of Capricorn 235 degrees south latitude to striking more northerly latitudes until they reach the Tropic of Cancer 235 degrees north latitude on the summer solstice.
The northern polar jet stream it has a counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere is driven partly by the temperature contrast between masses of icy air over the North Pole and warmer air near the. All these three characteristics of the jet streams are known to change as the climate warms. Scientists agree for first time that climate change may be intensifying the effects of the jet stream causing extreme cold weather in the UK and US.
Jet streams are high atmospheric air currents that move from west to east driven by Earths rotation. The climate model projections about how often the jet stream will stall and lead to extreme events from now until 2100 range from a slight decrease to a 300 percent increase said co-author Kai. In addition various climatic factors can cause the jet stream to shift and dramatically change an areas weather patterns.
For example he says over the North Atlantic region in summers the jet stream becomes wider and shifts to the north leading to an increase in the size of the Euro-Atlantic blocking events. This is the time of year when the jet stream in the Northern Hemisphere makes its seasonal southward shift sparking extreme swings in the weather such as an EF-4 in Iowa record rainfall in. Many have expressed concerns that the rapidly melting Arctic is now.
They also happen to make our weather. Evidence suggests the jet stream was at least partly responsible for the widespread drought conditions during the 1930s Dust Bowl in the Midwest United States. A warming Arctic weakens the jet stream which allows more extreme.
This is the time of year when the jet stream in the Northern Hemisphere makes its seasonal southward shift sparking extreme swings in the weather such as an EF-4 in Iowa record rainfall in. The slowing of the jet stream could cause weather patterns to remain in place for longer resulting in prolonged heat waves or cold snaps. And because the Arctic is warming faster than lower latitudes there is a weakening of the jet stream.
Because the Earths polar regions are warming more quickly. This 2012 NASA animation created using weather and climate observations from NASAs MERRA dataset shows a 30-day pattern in the Northern Hemisphere jet stream. Sometimes in response to natural climate patterns the jet stream becomes abnormally wavy.
During the Dust Bowl the jet stream weakened and changed course traveling farther south than normal. Jet streams follow the sun earths primary source of heat energy. For instance during the last glaciation in North America the polar jet stream was deflected south because the Laurentide Ice Sheet which was 10000 feet 3048 meters thick created its own weather and deflected it south.
