American researchers have found that anomalous weather around the globe is caused by changes in the Arctic regions. At a press conference held last week, they blamed both freak cold and torrid weather in the Northern hemisphere on Arctic warming. They think heavy snowfalls, rains and unbearable heat are entailed by the melting Arctic ice.
According to Stephen Vavrus, the senior scientist at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, as the Arctic sea ice is melting, the ocean absorbs much solar energy, which results in hotter temperatures above the waters. Eventually, there is a strong airstream blowing from west to east, stirring ocean currents.
“That essentially helps to refrigerate the land during the wintertime and we get snow and more cold and more extreme cold as well,” Mr Vavrus said.
Some scientists believe that the Arctic sea ice is melting much slower than expected. The Arctic might well face a total loss of summer ice by 2020. Last summer, the extent of the Arctic ice turned out to be the lowest in the satellite record.
“We are in the process right now of going to a new state in the Arctic,” David Titley, the Deputy Under Secretary for Operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noted.
Professor John Beddington, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, warned that “extremes in weather” like showers, continuous snowfalls, storms and hurricanes are likely to become a kind of a norm, so we should adjust to such phenomena.
