Publication Date January 26, 2018 | Bloomberg.com

The U.S. Is About to Get Real Cold Again. Blame It on Global Warming

Less Arctic ice has been linked to more winter cold snaps

Extreme positions of jet stream ‘mean more extreme weather’

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Because the world is getting warmer, it’s getting colder, too.

Crazy as that sounds, there’s an explanation in the northernmost corner of the the planet, where temperatures are rising twice as fast as anywhere else. That affects the jet streams churning through the upper atmosphere, and results in more weird winter cold snaps.

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More frequent and persistent bouts of severe or unseasonal weather are in most everyone’s future if the Arctic’s rapid warming continues, according to new research. Simply put, there will be fewer years when “climate is just average,” said Valerie Trouet, an associate professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. “More extreme positions of the jet mean more extreme weather.”

The reason: Climate change is reducing the gap between North Pole temperatures and those to the south, weakening winds in the upper atmosphere and creating conditions that propel their currents in unusual new ways.