Global Warming or Global Cooling?

Image+by+Intrepid+Travel+via+Pexels

Image by Intrepid Travel via Pexels

In recent months, it has been very hard to keep track of the weather. One day, wearing a regular sweatshirt will get you by, yet the next a full snow suit feels necessary. Why is this?

These short-term rapid drops in temperature are mostly caused by the polar vortex, the air around the North Pole. When the polar vortex gets distorted, it can stretch and break up, causing a cold wave to come to us. This is what causes the sudden changes in temperature over a short period of time. We can expect these types of episodes to happen once or twice during the winter. Sometimes during the winter, the polar vortex stays stable and the cold waves never come.

This is why we hear that global warming is happening, even when we don’t feel it. According to Yale Climate Connections, “Temperature records show that the Earth has warmed a little more than 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1880.” Overall, the Earth’s temperature has risen despite the below-freezing temperatures.