New Evidence Of More Climate Trouble

One of the most troubling ideas about climate change just found new evidence in its favor

Chris Mooney, March 27, 2017 (Washington Post)

“…[S]cientists have been debating a complex and frankly explosive idea [since 2012] about how a warming planet will alter our weather…[If it’s correct, it] would have profound implications…where hundreds of millions of people live…The idea is that climate change doesn’t merely increase the overall likelihood of [extreme weather but also] changes the flow of weather…[causing] weather to become more stuck in place…[and driving] extreme droughts, heat waves, downpours and more…[A new study finds evidence that the flow of weather is, in fact, slowing. In a way, this isn’t] complicated. The Northern Hemisphere jet stream flows in a wavy pattern from west to east, driven by the rotation of the Earth and the difference in temperature between the equator and the North Pole. The flow is stronger when that temperature difference is large…But when the Arctic warms up faster than the equator does — which is part of the fundamental definition of global warming, and which is already happening — the jet stream’s flow can become weakened and elongated. That’s when you can get the resultant weather extremes…” click here for more

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