Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (595659)	12/15/2010 10:30:49 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1583713

Nothing. Telling them the low tonight in Greenland is 33 degrees and the ice is melting won't really help, and they don't want to hear "They told you last winter next winter will be the third year in a row this is gonna happen." That's why Friedman calls it Global Weirding. Thought I told you that. starts here arctic.noaa.gov Teleconnections impact mid-latitudes Higher pressure surfaces above the North Pole, due to the warmer temperatures associated with greatly reduced sea ice, are thought to impact large scale wind patterns over the Northern Hemisphere. Climate models show these connections with cold air moving south, producing low pressure areas and unusually cold winters in the eastern U.S. and eastern Asia, and cooler than usual weather in late winter from Europe to the Far East1,2,3,4 (Figure 1, below). This would be only one factor among many influencing U.S. and Eurasian weather. How do we think we know this? Figure 1. Severe winters in eastern US and E. Asia are related by teleconnections to changes atmospheric pressure and winds following loss of Arctic sea ice. Figure from NOAA. How does Arctic ice loss impact the climate system? The diagram in Figure 2 (right) explains the Arctic climate feedback and its global implications. As the earth warms, the warming is amplified in the Arctic. More sea ice melts in the summertime, and with more open water, heat from the sun is absorbed in the ocean. With the warmer Arctic, winter freezeup is delayed, resulting in thinner wintertime ice. The heat absorbed into the ocean in summertime is released to the atmosphere in the fall, warming the atmosphere and changing the atmospheric pressure surfaces over the pole. This dome of warm air and elevated atmospheric pressure surfaces over the pole changes the Arctic atmospheric wind patterns, allowing outbreaks of cold Arctic air to the south. Figure 2. Arctic Climate Feedback and its Global Implications. Figure from NOAA. Europe and East Asia have more severe winter storms Observational evidence shows that the recent significant cold anomalies over the Far East in early winter and cold temperatue anomalies from Europe to Far East in late winter are associated with the decrease of the Arctic sea-ice cover in the preceding summer-to-autumn seasons. Results from numerical computer simulations using an atmospheric general circulation model support these notions (Figure 3, right). 1 Figure 3. Computer simulations of unusually high pressure area (red) over regions without sea ice and unusually low pressure area (purple) over E. Asia in December. Figure from Honda, et al.1 United States has more severe winter storms Preliminary results from numerical computer simulations indicate that the significant cold anomalies over the eastern US in winter are associated with the decrease of the Arctic sea-ice cover in the preceding summer-to-autumn seasons (Figure 4, right).2 Although there is considerable year to year variability, as summer Arctic open water area increases over the next decades, an increasing influence of loss of summer sea ice on northern hemisphere wind patters can be anticipated, with resultant impacts on northern hemisphere weather. arctic.noaa.gov