Arctic warming and polar vortex behavior under study

When temperatures plunge, many ask the question, what happened to global warming? Well, the answer may actually start in the Arctic. 22 News Storm Team Meteorologist Alexa Bianco joins us live in studio to explain. Yes, Nick and Ciara, the polar vortex isn't new. It's a natural part of the atmosphere. The question scientists are trying to answer is whether a warming Arctic is changing how it behaves. For weeks, it felt like winter wouldn't let up. Wave after wave of Arctic cold air keeping temperatures locked below normal. It may not feel like it, but global warming still plays a role even in a winter this cold. The atmosphere is connected. When one part changes, it can influence everything else. And this is called the Arctic amplification. The Arctic is warming about three to four times faster than the rest of the globe. Both sea ice reflects a lot of sun. It has a high albedo. So you melt that ice, then the ocean is able to absorb more heat and that extra heat accelerates the warming. The temperature difference between the Arctic and the tropics is strongest in the winter. But as the Arctic warms faster than the lower latitudes, the contrast can weaken. Scientists say that may influence the strength of the polar vortex. And when it becomes disrupted, the jet stream can turn more amplified, allowing cold air to spill South into North America. It's less frequent that we see these huge, intense cold air surges coming from the Arctic through Canada into North America and the US. It still can happen. And as we saw from this last winter, we can still experience that as the climate and the background planet are warming, it doesn't get rid of them altogether, but it's very unlikely that we're gonna have two years like this back to back. It's important to remember climate is measured over decades, not a single winter. 2024 was the warmest year on record globally with an average temperature near 15 degrees Celsius, which is around 59 degrees Fahrenheit, about 1.3 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average and roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. It's another reminder that global patterns are shifting and we'll keep tracking what that means locally. Working for you Storm Team Meteorologist, Alexa Bianco.