As Ottawa limps across the finish line of its snowiest January on record, cherry blossoms are blooming at the legislature in coastal Victoria.
Millions of Canadians were hiding out this week under extreme cold warnings stretching across the map, even as some East Coast cities enjoyed moderate temperatures.
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According to experts, these co-existing extremes have been predicted for some time B次元官网网址� and theyB次元官网网址檙e likely here to stay.
B次元官网网址淭his is the kind of thing people have been predicting for years,B次元官网网址� said Konrad Gajewski, a professor of geography and environment at the University of Ottawa.
B次元官网网址淭his kind of pattern of more alternation, more extremes, both in terms of warm and cold conditions is what weB次元官网网址檙e expecting for the future.B次元官网网址�
Central CanadaB次元官网网址檚 cold snap comes from the oscillating upper wind patterns of the jet stream, pushing the cold air down from the north with the polar vortex.
At the same time, the large B次元官网网址渨avesB次元官网网址� in the wind patterns push some warm air north, explaining comparatively warm temperatures on the coasts.
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The exact role climate change plays in the patternB次元官网网址檚 changes is an ongoing discussion in the scientific community, but a common belief says itB次元官网网址檚 the result of a warming Arctic.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 thought that as the Arctic warms up because the ice is melting back, weB次元官网网址檙e going to have more of a situation where you have what we call B次元官网网址榳avinessB次元官网网址� in the polar vortex,B次元官网网址� Gajewski said.
This B次元官网网址渨avinessB次元官网网址� in the upper windB次元官网网址檚 pattern could be carrying cold further and further south into south and central Canada, and pushing warm air further north along the coast.
Atmospheric physics professor Kent Moore at the University of Toronto says the striking weather patterns show how the worldB次元官网网址檚 climate system is intimately coupled, and how changes in the coldest and warmest regions can be felt in central Canadian cities.
As an example, he pointed to the theory that the waves in upper wind patterns are moving slower, with larger amplitudes as a possible result of warming in the Arctic.
B次元官网网址淭he largest changes in the climate are occurring in the Arctic and some would say, B次元官网网址榃ho cares? I live in mid-latitudes, why should I care about that stuff?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Moore said.
B次元官网网址淭he Earth is kind of a small place and so things that happen in the Arctic donB次元官网网址檛 stay in the Arctic.B次元官网网址�
This interconnectedness of the worldB次元官网网址檚 climate system also explains the impacts from El Nino systems on Canada, Moore said.
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