Why is it so cold if the planet is warming?

(news nation) — in winter Global warming Despite the snow, freezing rain, and brutal temperatures that have hit the northern United States recently.

Cold waves are also shorter on average. Winters in the lower 48 states warmed more than 4.5 times faster than in the past 100 years from 1970 to 2017, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

Confusion about winter storms in a warming planet usually stems from misunderstandings of weather and climate.

One way to think about this difference is to remember that “climate is what you expect, and weather is what you get,” says Adam Telland, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. .

Weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions, whereas climate considers the long-term average weather of a particular region.

For example, statistics show that while average snowfall is decreasing in many parts of the country, the amount of snow falling during blizzards is increasing. environmental defense fund.

Along these lines, weather patterns since the 1950s indicate that the cold weather Chicagoans are experiencing this week was more common in the past, Terrand said.

“Overall, we are still pushing the Earth's climate toward warmer places over time…but around the mean, cold extremes like the one we are currently experiencing still occur. “It could be,” he said.

Imagine walking your dog. Even if you're telling your dog where to walk and your dog stays on the path, the dog will wander or sway from one side of the sidewalk to the other, Teland explained.

“That's the day-to-day weather fluctuations we're talking about,” he said.

of polar vortex Strong Arctic winds trapping cold air above the North Pole may also be a contributing factor. As that vortex weakens, colder air could move south.

El Niño events that occur in the fall and winter can cause wetter-than-average conditions from Southern California to along the Gulf Coast and drier-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley. According to NOAA.El Niño winter increases chance of warmer-than-normal temperatures across northern U.S.

“Overall, we're adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere,” Teland says. “The result is less warmth and heat escaping into space, making the Earth even warmer. That's what we're experiencing.”