An extraordinary phenomenon is expected above the South Pole in the coming days – stratospheric warming that can significantly disrupt the polar vortex and cause unusual weather fluctuations not only in the southern hemisphere, but in certain cases also in the north, including Europe or North America, lists the web.
According to NASA data and other meteorological models these days, strong pressure and temperature waves are created above Antarctica. Temperatures in the stratosphere rise up to 30 to 50 ° C above normal, which significantly weakens the polar vortex. The forecasts indicate that its strength will be reduced by about half over the next few weeks.
Although not every warming in the stratosphere is officially labeled as “sudden stratospheric warming”, Even minor disorders can cause circulation disruption and bring extreme weather manifestations.
Such events are rare in the southern hemisphere, but can also affect global air circulation. Some studies have shown that stratospheric warming above the South Pole was only manifested in the ionosphere above the US and Europe and in the past even influenced the following winter in the northern hemisphere.
Scientists warn that although the connection between events at the southern and north pole is not fully examined, there is evidence that Strong warming in the stratosphere can also affect the weather on the opposite side of the planet – for example, cold winters in the US or warmer anomalies in Europe.
The polar vortex is a massive system of winds and pressure that surrounds the polar regions in winter. In the upper layers of the atmosphere behaves like a huge cyclone and closely It is related to the development of winter weather. Changes in its stratospheric part are often transmitted to the lower layers of the atmosphere and subsequently affect the weather weather.
Meteorologists point out that the polar vortex over the North Pole can also play an important role. “The weakened vortex is associated with extreme winter, solid frosts, heavy snowstorms and deep snow,” described for researcher Judah Cohen.
