User:Fhowar1/sandbox

Amplified Arctic Warming
Dark, open water left behind as sea ice melts absorbs vastly more heat than ice covered water, leading to physical implications that include the ice-albedo feedback or warmer sea surface temperatures which increase ocean heat content. As Peter Wadhams, a polar researcher writes "once summer ice yields to open water, the albedo... drops from 0.6 to 0.1, which will further accelerate warming of the Arctic and of the whole planet." This warming has increased to such an extent that the poles are heating approximately twice as fast as the global average, according to Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis. Economical implications of ice free summers and the decline in Arctic ice volumes include a greater number of journeys across the Arctic Ocean Shipping lanes during the year. This number has grown from 0, in 1979 to 400–500 along the Bering strait and >40 along the Northern Sea Route, in 2013.

Polar Vortex Disruption
The polar vortex is a whirlwind of especially cold, dense air forming near the poles that is contained by the jet stream, a belt of fast-flowing winds that serves as a boundary between cold polar air and the warmer air of other hemispheres. Because the power of the polar vortex and jet stream is derived partly from the temperature contrast between cold polar air and warmer tropical air, it is at risk of becoming severely diminished as this contrast is eroded by the effects of melting sea ice. According to the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences ”there [has been] a significant change in the vortex mean state over the twenty-first century, resulting in a weaker, more disturbed vortex." As the vortex becomes weaker, it is more likely to allow cold arctic air to escape from the confines of the jet stream and spill over into other hemispheres. This disruption has already begun to affect global temperatures. In a 2017 study conducted by climatologist Dr. Judah Cohen and several of his research associates, Cohen wrote that “[the] shift in polar vortex states can account for most of the recent winter cooling trends over Eurasian midlatitudes” What's more, these shifts can lead to dramatic economic costs. A report published by NOAA cited the vortex as a possible cause for damages equaling 145.3 Million Dollars during the Cold Season of 2013-2014. Further,

Cold Weather Implications
Many will be surprised to find that one effect of climate change is an increase in extreme cold weather events.