The global climate crisis is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today and global warming is a key contributor to the disruption of many of Earth’s natural processes and systems. One of the results of this warming is a weakening of the polar jet stream, an area of strong wind currents. Jet streams are fast-moving bands of air, in this case located at the edges of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, which help to regulate temperature, weather, and moisture in our environment. A weakening of the polar jet stream has major implications for our planet and its inhabitants.
The Polar Jet Stream is a particularly strong type of jet stream which is found in the upper atmosphere and which encircles the Arctic and the Antarctic. It is driven by differences in the temperature of the air in the two hemispheres, with the cooler air in the upper latitudes of the Arctic being particularly important. Jet streams play a vital role in the global climate, helping to move heat and moisture around the Earth as part of the global atmospheric circulation. They also affect wind speeds, temperatures, and precipitation in areas beneath them.
With global warming, the atmosphere has changed significantly and this has had a direct effect on the Polar Jet Stream. One of the most notable effects is a decrease in the north-south temperature gradient, which is the difference between the temperature at the top of the jet stream and the bottom. This means that the jet stream is weaker and more prone to meandering, which has a range of consequences.
One key result of the weakened Polar Jet Stream is that its normal meandering pattern breaks down, with more large and game-changing meanders becoming evident. These meanders can bring warmer air to the Arctic, leading to more melting of Arctic sea ice and accelerating climate feedback loops of increased global warming. The same meanders can also bring cold air to the lower latitudes, leading to extreme winter events such as Snowmageddon. These events can also have a myriad of far-reaching impacts, such as animals failures in winter and crop failures in the Autumn.
A weakening of the Polar Jet Stream also affects tropical regions in the other hemisphere. The jet stream is an important factor in the rising and sinking of air in the tropics and the direction in which air moves in the surrounding areas. This motion affects global weather patterns and the abundance of drought or rainfall in many areas around the world.
Overall, the weakening of the Polar Jet Stream due to global warming not only has direct consequences for our planet and its inhabitants, but also more far-reaching effects. It is essential to understand how global warming causes the Polar Jet Stream to weaken in order to anticipate its potential effects and prepare for the changes to the global climate which this melting could bring. Governments must take action to reduce carbon emissions, in particular those coming from the fossil fuel industry, and invest in renewable and green energy sources in order to prevent further weakening of the polar jet stream and the disastrous consequences this could bring.
How Global Warming Causes The Polar Jet Stream To Weaken
