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At 16:17, the guest said that the jet stream is going faster because the temperature difference is getting larger between the arctic and the Atlantic Ocean. I w

At 16:17, the guest said that the jet stream is going faster because the temperature difference is getting larger between the arctic and the Atlantic Ocean. I was surprised by that because I’ve seen other sources [1], which say that the arctic is getting much warmer, much faster than the rest of the world. I’m wondering if the research is not in agreement or if the Atlantic is getting even warmer faster. [1] https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-is-the-arctic-warming-faster-than-other-parts-of-the-world-160614 https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-is-the-arc...

seoaeu 5y ago
I'd imagine the research on "how hot is location <x>" would be reasonably robust. Seems unlikely that there would be substantial disagreement about a quantity that could easily be measured via a thermometer (even though the actual readings are probably being done by satellites)
monkeydreams 5y ago
> I’m wondering if the research is not in agreement or if the Atlantic is getting even warmer faster. Note: I am writing this without direct access to the stats at the moment. The Arctic is warming faster than many parts of the world, yes, in that air temperatures are rapidly increasing. The oceans, however, warm much more slowly and the differential between the two oceans should still be quite large.
dls2016 5y ago
My guess is that you have to think of the dynamics to see that the "jet stream is increasing in speed". Also... you really have to watch how that phrase is even defined. If the atmosphere were cleanly cut along latitude into "arctic", "mid-latitude" and "tropical" cells then the relative change in temperature would dictate the change in the (static in time) jet stream. So if the arctic warmed faster than mid-latitudes then the temperature gradient and jet activity would decrease. But it's not. Instead, cold air blobs off the poles and we call the wobbles fronts which are associated with jets. Imagine if the number of polar vortex events per year increased from once every four years to 4 per year. Then the overall temperature gradient (and therefore jet activity) could increase even if the poles heated more quickly in the 4 events per year situation. Here, more polar vortex events is a stand in for more overall dynamic activity in the atmosphere.

seoaeu 5y ago

I'd imagine the research on "how hot is location <x>" would be reasonably robust. Seems unlikely that there would be substantial disagreement about a quantity that could easily be measured via a thermometer (even though the actual readings are probably being done by satellites)

monkeydreams 5y ago

> I’m wondering if the research is not in agreement or if the Atlantic is getting even warmer faster. Note: I am writing this without direct access to the stats at the moment. The Arctic is warming faster than many parts of the world, yes, in that air temperatures are rapidly increasing. The oceans, however, warm much more slowly and the differential between the two oceans should still be quite large.

dls2016 5y ago

My guess is that you have to think of the dynamics to see that the "jet stream is increasing in speed". Also... you really have to watch how that phrase is even defined. If the atmosphere were cleanly cut along latitude into "arctic", "mid-latitude" and "tropical" cells then the relative change in temperature would dictate the change in the (static in time) jet stream. So if the arctic warmed faster than mid-latitudes then the temperature gradient and jet activity would decrease. But it's not. Instead, cold air blobs off the poles and we call the wobbles fronts which are associated with jets. Imagine if the number of polar vortex events per year increased from once every four years to 4 per year. Then the overall temperature gradient (and therefore jet activity) could increase even if the poles heated more quickly in the 4 events per year situation. Here, more polar vortex events is a stand in for more overall dynamic activity in the atmosphere.