Because, because, because global warming does create record cold. Of course it does! </sarcasm>
Believe it or not, global warming might have caused the arctic blast
As climate destabilizes, Minnesota could see polar snaps more frequently.
By Jennifer Bjorhus Star Tribune
FEBRUARY 2, 2019 — 6:09PMLast week’s arctic temperatures may have shocked millennials, but Minnesotans of a certain age swear they can remember such frigid spells as fairly regular events.
They’re right, and climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld can explain why.
Five or six decades ago, the polar vortex — the thick mass of cold low-pressure air that swirls counterclockwise around the North Pole — would spill bone-chilling air down to Minnesota every two to three years.
Not anymore.
“This one is as bad as we’ve had in three decades,” said Blumenfeld, senior climatologist in the Minnesota State Climatology Office.
And for anyone who developed doubts about global warming in last week’s deep freeze, Blumenfeld says not so. In his mind, the data demonstrate that climate change is real: Decades have passed since Minnesota trudged through its last extreme deep freeze.
“These used to be much more regular occurrences,” he said.
…
Scientists are studying whether the Earth’s rising temperatures might be causing the jet stream to wander even more, Twine said, leading to more frequent leaks of severe cold to more southerly latitudes.
“We don’t know enough about the science to be able to predict whether this is going to happen more or less in the future,” said Twine.
“We’re pretty confident that overall, the winters here are averaging warmer. We just don’t know how these colder outbreaks are going to change.”
…
It may be cold comfort, but he added: “Our winters would be warmer if we weren’t getting these increased polar vortex disruptions.”
Believe it or not, global warming might have caused the arctic blast
As climate destabilizes, Minnesota could see polar snaps more frequently.