Effects of Arctic Sea Ice Loss on Frequency of Cold Weather in Mid-Latitudes

• Main Author: Collins, Ashton
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Scholarly Commons 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.susqu.edu/ssd/2019/posters/17

Anthropogenic climate change has caused Arctic sea ice to melt at a rapid rate, but up until recently it has not been considered that this melting would affect synoptic weather patterns, only long-term climate factors. This research attempts to establish a connection between melting Arctic sea ice, changes in the jet stream and tropospheric polar vortex, and the frequency of extreme cold weather events in the mid-latitudes. Cold events during the months of December-February are analyzed over the past decade and compared with a 30-year climatology using NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis data, and correlated with measures of Arctic sea ice concentration. Observations are analyzed to show the relationship between loss of Arctic sea ice, a weakening jet stream, and changes in the frequency of cold days occurring in the mid-latitudes.