Brrrrr

The weatherman says we are getting another visit from the North Pole and this one isn't bringing any presents.

Forecasts are pretty grim with lows well below zero in some places and wind chill in very negative numbers.

Of course it is the middle of the winter and cold weather is to be expected, but it just seems we are pretty consistently setting records year after year.

If the climate is stable new records would be a fairly rare event, as random fluctuations play out.

My fairly limited understanding based on a little knowledge (dangerous) is that as the earth heats up, we see both long term and short term consequences.

Long term we see oceans rising as global ice melts.  We may also see disruptions in ocean currents as fresh water enters the water changing some of the dynamics.

Shorter term we see impacts on the weather, as there is more energy in the system and this has a tendency to amplify certain events.

Certainly we are having more once in a century typhoons and hurricanes than once in a century would indicate.

The polar vortex forms in the Arctic during the winter and is contained there by things like the jet stream.  In years when the restraints are disrupted it wobbles and we get cold.

It is also likely due to the warming trend in the Arctic itself as warmer surface temperatures disrupt the vortex behavior.

Unfortunately, we are seeing a trend in which this previously rare behavior is increasing as the Earth warms.

It may confuse some of our leaders, but it doesn't contradict Climate Change.  It actually is a symptom to a certain extent.

Bundle up!