The Polar Vortex
Key Takeaways:
The phrase “polar vortex” is often erroneously used by the media to link climate change and severe winter weather events.
The polar vortex was first identified as a cause for some instances of severe winter weather events in 1853.
Claims that climate change is creating new and more severe polar vortex events are not supported by either observational evidence or computer climate models.
Short Summary:
Extreme winter weather is often attributed to an atmospheric weather event known as a “polar vortex outbreak” or an “Arctic outbreak.” The Polar Vortex is nothing new: The term first appeared in an 1853 issue of E. Littell’s Living Age.1
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):2
The polar vortex is a large circulation of low pressure and cold air that forms every winter in the stratosphere above the North and South poles. The term vortex refers to the counter-clockwise flow of air that helps keep colder air close to the poles (left globe in Figure 1).
Sometimes during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex will become less stable and disrupt the polar jet stream circulating in the same direction miles below the vortex — thus sending cold Arctic air southward over the United States (right globe in Figure 1).
https://climateataglance.com/climate-at-a-glance-the-polar-vortex/
