Recent Changes in Blocking Characteristics Assessed Using Self-Organizing Maps Speaker: Jennifer Ann Francis Blocking anticyclones are known to be associated with persistent weather patterns that often lead to extreme weather events. An outstanding question, however, is whether the frequency and/or intensity of these dynamical features are changing in response to human-caused climate change, and in…
The month of May brought persistent floods to Texas and an unrelenting heat wave to India. On Monday, researchers from Rutgers University published an explanation for the repeating weather patterns. Kris Van Cleave reports. And Dr. Jennifer Francis is back with more research linking Arctic warming to the erratic jet stream we’ve seen in recent…
ClimateProgress covered the jet stream connection on Monday: It will be unseasonably chilly in the eastern part of the United States this week, due to a peculiar weather pattern that’s causing deep waves in the jet stream. One of those big waves is bringing cool air down from the northeast Pacific and the Arctic. This…
BBC: New research suggests that the main system that helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing. The study shows that the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path. This has resulted in weather remaining the same for more prolonged periods. The work was presented at the…
Current coverage of polar vortex intrusion. ‘Polar vortex’ could send wind chill to 65 below zero in Midwest More realtime coverage Carson Walker: Temperature records will likely be broken during the short, yet forceful deep freeze that will begin in many places on Sunday and extend into early next week. That’s thanks to a perfect…
Via Robertscribbler: In a July 18 testimony to Congress, Dr. Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist from Rutgers and key innovator to understanding how climate change has brought about dangerous alterations to the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream, provides five compelling reasons why we should all be quite concerned about human caused global warming. They include: 1.…
This video is part of a Climate Desk event “Climate Desk Live 06/06/13: The Alarming Science Behind Climate Change’s Increasingly Wild Weather” featuring top climate researcher Jennifer Francis. Watch the full event (including Stu Ostro on atmospheric thickness) here . Event website http://climatedesk.org/2013/05/climat… For more detail on Francis’s research, see: Arctic Warming Favors Extreme, Prolonged Weather Events…
By Joe Romm / Climate Progress: Earlier this month, Chris Mooney moderated a terrific Climate Desk event featuring top climate researcher Jennifer Francis along with senior Weather Channel meteorologist (and former skeptic) Stu Ostro. Climate Desk summarizes their findings: Ostro’s observations suggest that global warming is increasing the atmosphere’s thickness, leading to stronger and more persistent ridges…
By Jeff Masters / Wunderground: May 2013 was the globe’s 3rd warmest May since records began in 1880, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA rated it the 10th warmest May on record. The year-to-date period of January – May has been the 8th warmest such period on record. May 2013 global land…
The “Arctic Paradox” was coined during recent winters when speculations arose that the dramatic changes in the Arctic may be linked to severe snowstorms and cold temperatures in mid-latitudes, particularly along the U.S. east coast and in Europe. Recent studies have illuminated these linkages. Evidence is presented for a physical mechanism connecting Arctic Amplification —…
Jennifer Francis, Rutgers University – assesses the broad topic of the Arctic Sea Ice Decline and explains seasonal impacts. Observations, especially since the 1950’s, explain how the “Arctic Amplification” leads to rapid sea ice changes during the summer month. Much more ridging in North America during the winter. And this affects weather patterns, because a…
Independent videographer Peter Sinclair for The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media explains what expert scientists now find to be the lowest extent of Arctic sea ice in recorded history.