[Vision2020] Looks like "The Day after Tomorrow" may be closer then we thought

[Ted Moffett]

Due to polar amplification, which has been predicted for decades by
climate scientists (
http://courses.eas.ualberta.ca/eas570/arctic_amplification.pdf ), the
Arctic should be and is undergoing the most warming, of any area on
Earth, from anthropogenic climate forcings.  This warming of the
Arctic and significant loss of sea ice is a major verification of one
of the main predictions of climate models regarding the radiative
forcing of human CO2 emissions.

So that the Arctic is unusually warm (relative to historical norms for
each area) compared to lower latitudes is not surprising.  Consider
the data below at bottom from Dr. Jeff Master's Wunderground
climate/weather website, from about a year ago, revealing that
Greenland and Alaska were warmer than Florida during a period last
winter.

That Arctic air mass is shifting into lower latitudes during winter
more than usual may or may not be a long term shift in weather
patterns in the Northern Hemisphere.  Consider previous winters from
decades ago when Niagara Falls froze in 1911 and ice was present in
the Mississippi River as far south as Louisiana as Atlanta hit minus 9
F. in 1899 ( source with photos of frozen Niagara Falls in 1911, NASA
climate scientist James Hansen et. al.:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2010/20100127_TemperatureFinal.pdf )

But it is reasonable to consider that as the Arctic warms (both
atmosphere and ocean), and sea ice declines, over a period of mere
decades, the more stable weather patterns of the past will alter:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1409

>From website above:

Colder in Florida than Alaska and Greenland

The sharp kink in the jet stream has brought record warm temperatures
to a few stations in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest this week,
making much of coastal Alaska warmer than Florida. Cold Bay, Alaska,
set a record high yesterday of 47°F, after recording a low temperature
of 30°F. This made Cold Bay warmer than Pensacola, Florida, which had
a high of 47°F and a low of 24°F. In fact, most of Florida--including
Jacksonville, Tampa, Melbourne, and Tallahassee--recorded lows at or
below the 27°F low recorded in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday. The jet
stream kink has also brought temperatures more than 30°F above average
to Greenland. The temperature in Narsarsuaq, Greenland at 10am EST
today was 46°F, far warmer than most of Florida.
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 1/24/11, Dave <tiedye at turbonet.com> wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/science/earth/25cold.html?_r=1&hp
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/science/earth/25cold.html?_r=1&hp>
>
> Dave
>
> --
> Windows, OSX, or Linux is the same choice as:
> McDonald's, Burger King, or a (real) Co-Op.
>