Climate Change and Severe Weather: Blizzards and the Polar Vortex
This paper examines the apparent paradox that global warming produces more severe winter storms rather than milder winters. Drawing on data from the Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Climate Assessment, the paper explains how Arctic sea ice melt destabilizes the polar vortex, causing extreme cold outbreaks in areas like North America. It also details how warmer air holds more moisture, intensifying precipitation events. Historical examples — including the winters of 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 in the United States — illustrate these trends. The paper concludes that climate change produces greater weather instability at both temperature extremes, not simply warmer conditions.
- Introduction: The Global Warming Paradox: Cold winters do not disprove global warming
- The Polar Vortex and Destabilized Weather Patterns: Ice melt destabilizes polar vortex, causing extremes
- Warmer Air, More Moisture, and Heavier Storms: Hotter air holds more moisture, intensifying storms
- Recent Winters as Evidence of Climate Extremes: 2013–2015 winters illustrate dangerous climate patterns
- Frequency, Intensity, and Regional Preparedness: Heavy storm frequency rising; regions underprepared
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What makes this paper effective
- Directly addresses a common misconception — that cold winters disprove global warming — and uses it as an entry point into a more nuanced scientific explanation.
- Supports claims with specific real-world examples, including the winters of 2013–2014 and 2014–2015, grounding abstract concepts in observable events.
- Uses a single authoritative source consistently, demonstrating how to build a focused, coherent argument from one well-chosen reference.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the technique of counterintuitive argumentation — presenting a phenomenon that seems to contradict a thesis (cold winters despite global warming) and then explaining the causal mechanism that resolves the apparent contradiction. This approach strengthens credibility by acknowledging complexity rather than oversimplifying.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by identifying the common misconception, then introduces the polar vortex mechanism, followed by the moisture-and-precipitation argument. It transitions to concrete historical examples before closing with statistical evidence from the National Climate Assessment. The argument moves logically from mechanism to evidence, building cumulatively toward a well-supported conclusion.
Introduction: The Global Warming Paradox
Quite often, when people comment upon the effects of global warming, they note that winters can still be quite severe. The fact that blizzards remain frequent occurrences is used as "proof" against the persistence of climate change. However, although the temperature of the earth is steadily increasing, the effects of climate change mean that more intense storms are likely in the future — including blizzards. This is largely due to the melting of the polar ice caps. "In addition to affecting the ocean circulation patterns, Arctic sea ice is melting more rapidly and for longer periods each year, and is unable to replenish itself at the historical thickness levels in the briefer, warmer winter season. This can destabilize the polar vortex and raise the barometric pressure within it" ("It's Cold and My Car is Buried in Snow").
The Polar Vortex and Destabilized Weather Patterns
Destabilizing the polar vortex can result in more unpredictable weather. In recent winters, the polar vortex — defined as "a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of Earth's poles" — became elongated, and "when a deep trough occurs over eastern North America, this creates colder than usual weather for those areas as a general rule" ("It's Cold and My Car is Buried in Snow"). Thus, while the winters of recent years may have been unusually cold in North America due to the destabilized vortex, this was paradoxically caused by global warming.
Works Cited
"It's Cold and My Car is Buried in Snow. Is Global Warming Really Happening?" Union of Concerned Scientists. 17 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
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