Recently we’ve had an Arctic outbreak in North America, where frigid air from the Arctic sweeps south into the temperate zone. This time it seems to have spread all across the continent, although in the past such outbreaks tend to be mainly east of the Rockies.
What kind of effect do these outbreaks have on the weather in the Arctic? I’d expect that it warms up up there, since other air has to move in to fill the void and pretty much all the other nearby air is warmer than what the Arctic already has.
How far north is the weather in the Arctic modified by outbreaks? I realize that this will vary from occurance to occurance, but what is it typically, if that means anything?
I’d wager the atmosphere is such an ideal heat sink, the warmer air cools without noticeable impact. It’s not contributing to melting of the polar cap, but I have no site to cite.
One reason why the Antarctic is not warming as rapidly as the Arctic is the general increase in the strength of the circumpolar winds in the southern hemisphere. That barrier seems to limit the exchange of heat with the rest of the planet. (Of course the dynamic of polar weather is very complicated, and not clearly understood.) The same phenomenon is apparently also warming the seas more deeply by increasing the exchange between atmosphere and ocean. This may be the reason that ice shelves on the western Antarctic peninsula are melting so much faster than the grounded ice sheets of the eastern continent. Add to this the decrease in general warming probably associated with the Ozone depletion and the number of factors makes it rather difficult to compare.
In the Arctic, the wind patterns are much more complicated, and also much more variable from year to year. The cooling of any region by convection from cooler areas must involve warming elsewhere. Exactly where, and how much is a significantly non trivial thing to determine. Consider, however the progressive increase in summer melt of the ice pack that has made the mythical Northwest Passage a reality, for the last two summers.
Tris
“The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.” ~ Alexander Jablokov ~
“Those who travel the Road to Truth will encounter annoying bastards along the way. The hard part is figuring out which of these you are.” ~ Triskadecamus ~