A polar vortex is engulfing the US. Here's what that really means, and why these events might be get

[IronLionZion]

A polar vortex is engulfing the US. Here’s what that really means, and why these events might be getting more common

https://www.businessinsider.com/polar-vortex-dangers-why-it-happens-2019-1?utm_content=buffer9b4fa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

For the first time since 2014, a polar vortex is descending on North America.

In parts of the Midwest and New England, about 25 million Americans are about to experience temperatures of -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Some areas in Minnesota and the Dakotas are facing temperatures 50 degrees below average — that's life-threatening cold.

The National Weather Service's Chicago office noted that wind chills of -30 to -55 Fahrenheit would hit the city between Tuesday and Thursday, with "record-breaking cold (potentially all-time)" on Wednesday.

The term polar vortex describes the mass of low-pressure, cold air that circulates in the stratosphere above the Arctic. Sometimes the circulation of the polar vortex weakens during the winter, causing surges of frigid arctic air to splinter off and drift south.

The freezing air is carried along by the jet stream, a current of wind that extends around the hemisphere and divides the air masses in the polar region from those further south.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. We here in Minnesota call it the Siberian Express....

For the cold air from Siberia is the source.

[at140]

4. In Chicago, we called it Siberian express for many decades!

Polar vortex is nothing different than our old Siberian Express.
I remember 1985 well when it dipped well below -20 F and got lots of snow before the temps plunged. My group had 30 cars in the parking lot when we returned from a ski trip around mid-night , and only 3 cars started! Our ski bus stayed to keep us warm while we worked on starting every car. By the time I left the parking lot it was 4am. Unforgettable night!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. Same here.....

We also get Alberta Clippers too.

[LakeSuperiorView]

9. We had to get across campus to be able to eat in that.

Snow drifts head high across the sidewalks couldn't be cleared for weeks until they brought in heavy equipment. Life went on, but we froze our asses off getting to the Student Union.

[lunatica]

2. Every single thing about climate change

could easily be illustrated in an animated documentary or movie. Even grade school children and MAGATs would understand what it means if they saw it in an animation.

I don’t know why no one has done this. It could even be made with CGI! Hell! James Cameron could make it to look like Avatar and it could get an Oscar!

I despair sometimes.

[IronLionZion]

5. MAGAts don't want to understand

Many of them who live in coastal areas can see it with their own eyes yet refuse to believe.

[Takket]

3. here's another article I just read........

https://scijinks.gov/polar-vortex/

[CousinIT]

8. Notice the term "climate change" has been completely scrubbed from these .gov sites.

Go ahead. Search for the term. You won't find it.

[benld74]

7. Too much warm air entering arctic regions

[drmeow]

10. "For the first time since 2014, a polar vortex is descending on North America."

How common are these? Is a 5 year gap typical, longer than usual, or shorter than usual? I was under the impression they were rare - and would have expected the headline to say "for the second time this decade" or something like that but not if 5 years is unusually long.

[at140]

11. May depend on variable Sun activity?

Our Sun has it's own activity cycles, with flares reaching heights thousands of times bigger than Earth. Sun is more than a million times bigger than earth. Recorded history of Sun activity is may be 100 years old which is like 0.0000001% of Sun's life, so it is impossible to forecast. Not near enough data.

[NickB79]

13. It's not the sun

Seriously, stop with that bullshit. It's what Trumpers pull out every time to try to claim man-made climate change isn't real and justify burning more coal and oil.

The role of the Sun's activity has been studied extensively and found to not be a significant player in the current climate instability. We actually have fairly good records of solar activity going back centuries, including the time of the Maunder Minimum and the corresponding Little Ice Age. A repeat today wouldn't even offset the warming we're seeing from greenhouse gases, much less cool the planet.

[at140]

14. Remember dust bowls during 1930's?

I understand many temp records were broken then. What was the cause of that?

[NickB79]

29. Remember how the Dust Bowl was a LOCALIZED event in the central US?

And not a global one? Just like this week's polar vortex is also not a global cooling event?

Here, talk to the global climate records. See the 1930's, way down there and nowhere near today's temps?

[at140]

30. Nice chart..a picture is worth a thousand words!

who is the author of this chart?

[drmeow]

25. I'm not concerned about cause

I'm interested in frequency. The statement "for the first time since ..." implies that the event sold have occurred more frequently. My impression of polar vortexes is that they have not been frequent. If that's true, it makes (IMO) the statement problematically disingenuous and misleading.

[Codeine]

27. That's a weird reading of that sentence.

It just means “this hasn’t happened in a while, that’s why it seems so out of the ordinary.” Nothing is implied about a lack of expected frequency.

[drmeow]

31. My impression is that polar vortexes

haven't historically happened more often than every 5 years. To me (and a number of people in my circle), to say "For the first time since 2014" implies that the fact that the event did not happen in the last 5 years is part of what is out of the ordinary. Historically, that has been the more common usage of that phrase

Think about these two statements

(If made in 2009) For the first time since 2000 the Yankees have won the World Series.

(If made in 2018) For the first time since 2010 Italy has won a gold medal in the Olympics.

One is a gap of 9 years, the other 8 (so pretty similar).

In the first statement, the Yankees didn't win the World Series 8 times in the interim.
In the second, there was only 1 Olympics during which Italy didn't win a gold medal. Yeah, its been 8 years but you don't expect to win a gold medal in the Olympics more often than every 4 years.

To me, if I'm right that the these weather events historically have not happened frequently, saying "For the first time since 2014 we're experiencing a polar vortex" is like the second statement - yeah, its been a while but that's not unusually because it is always a while between these things.

[Blue_true]

12. I wonder whether Mexico should build a wall.

Maybe they are being coy and waiting. One day we will need to migrate to Mexico and Central America to avoid freezing to death. We will pay them not to build a wall then.

I saw a movie once, forgot the name of it. A vortex extended over all of North America and all of Europe. The only chance for survival involved getting to a warmer climate near the equator, Mexico and other warmer countries let our people in and our military searched for stranded people that were still alive and fly them south to deep in Mexico. It would be poetic justice for something like that to happen after the country elected (lots voted for him) a racist buffoon.

[at140]

15. Don't have to go that far to Mexico..

Just come to Florida! After living 37 years in Chicago, I love warmer Florida. Got rid of all heavy winter gear.

[Blue_true]

17. If someone know the name of the movie, maybe they can list it.

Much of Florida will be freezing, maybe not the very southernmost part of it. A large part of Northern Mexico was freezing, only the southern part and Central America was livable.

BTW, I live in North Central Florida, if the movie like vortex happened, it would be unlivable here.

[IronLionZion]

19. Global warming also makes hurricanes worse

My parents just moved to Florida and gloat about the warm sunny winters, but then I have to remind them I don't have to deal with hurricanes and pythons.

[at140]

20. Pythons not the problem, roaches & spiders are

everyday visitors. Pythons are mainly in the southern Florida swamps.
Here by Jacksonville, all we see is small snakes occasionally, and they are not aggressive.
The larger ponds have gators, again very shy of humans unless some idiot feeds them.

Reaching balmy 70F today...November through April is great weather. Summers are hot and humid.
Best feature of Florida is miles and miles of sandy beaches, east and west.

[IronLionZion]

21. North Florida is also infested with Republicans

and those can get aggressive

[at140]

22. We don't feed the gators or the republicans!

Because then they get aggressive at humans.

Orange Park in Jacksonville has a thriving black middle class population.

[Achilleaze]

26. It impacts everything.

Despite republican lies.

[IronLionZion]

28. It impacts these alligators frozen in ice

That was North Carolina.

There were Californians gloating about avoiding the polar vortex and then Midwestern people had to remind them that their state is burning up more and more each year.

Some states have flooding and others have droughts. Dry areas are getting drier. Wet areas are getting wetter. Islands are going underwater.

[Flaleftist]

16. "The Day After Tomorrow"

[Blue_true]

18. Thanks. When it comes to movies, I only remember certain things.

That movie was intense, the Queen's chopper having it's fuel lines freeze up as she was being evaced from Scottland, the scientists that first saw the vortex forming deciding to drink all the liquor they had left instead of using it to burn in a hopeless situation, walls of buildings freezing up, mountainous snowdrifts.

[Flaleftist]

23. Indeed.

I especially liked the line from one character "My 17 year old son knows more science than the vice-president."

The apparent scientific illiteracy of some of our politicians is shameful and astounding.

[ismnotwasm]

24. I like that movie-- the science took a lot of poetic license, but it was disturbing for all that