Earth Equity News

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here's Why. By Kenneth Chang, NYTimes, January 10, 2010. "A bitter wind has been blowing over parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Some places have been colder than ever, like Melbourne, Fla., which dipped to 28 degrees last Thursday, a record low. Europe has been walloped by snowstorm after snowstorm... This situation is caused by Arctic oscillation, in which opposing atmospheric pressure patterns at the top of the planet occasionally shift back and forth, affecting weather across much of the Northern Hemisphere. What's notable this year is that the pattern of high pressure over the Arctic is more pronounced than at any time since 1950... deflecting the cold air of the jet stream farther to the south than usual... 'Pretty much all of the Arctic is above normal,' said Dr. Walter Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center [NSIDC] in Boulder, Colo. In some areas, the temperatures are as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. In terms of global average temperature, this winter's arctic oscillation 'probably roughly cancels out,' Dr. Meier said. And it is certainly not the coldest air that has descended on the United States. In a great blizzard that swept across the East Coast in 1899, even parts of Florida dropped to below zero."