Arctic warming fallout

Where I live in the high north weather events these last couple of years have seemed to be dragged out and amplified, both on the hot and cold end of the spectrum: Multi week hot spells in the summer and similar cold events in the winter.

An explanation for this is now being offered by scientific reports pointing to slower jet streams at the 10 kilometre altitude level around 60 degrees north of the equator.

The driver is accelerated air warming of the arctic in comparison to air at lower latitudes. As the earth spins, the strength of the jet stream that moves from west to east is determined by the temperature difference as the air masses meet and mingle.

Low and high pressure systems are captives of the jet stream and are moved along by it as it wiggles around the globe.

As the arctic keeps warming at an accelerating rate, the behaviour of these jet streams becomes increasingly unpredictable, as does the weather we are subjected to.