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Winter Storm Risk Increase

Climate change makes cold events less likely on average, but extreme, even record-breaking winter weather still happens in a warming world. In some instances, climate change may even be exacerbating extreme cold and snow events. Warmer air due to climate change creates conditions more favorable for extreme precipitation, including snowstorms. In addition, a growing body of evidence shows that decades of warming and rapid heating of the Arctic is contributing to changes in mid-latitude climate and weather, as well as the occurrence of extreme events. In the US, rapid Arctic warming is frequently associated with disruptive winter weather, and there's evidence climate change may be destabilizing the polar vortex, driving arctic blasts south.[1]

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