“The exceptional cold and snowy winter of 2009-2010 in Europe, eastern Asia and eastern North America is connected to unique physical processes in the Arctic,” Overland told the audience at the Oslo conference that gather some 2.000 polar and climate scientists from 60 nations this week.
The reason why we can expect colder winters with more snow is according to Dr. Overland that a warmer Arctic climate is influencing the air pressure at the North Pole and shifting changing the wind patterns on the planet, reports the portal of the Oslo Science conference.
It is Europe, eastern Asia and eastern North America that can expect snowier and colder winters in the years to come.
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“While the emerging impact of greenhouse gases is an important factor in the changing Arctic, what was not fully recognized until now is that a combination of an unusual warm period due to natural variability, loss of sea ice reflectivity, ocean heat storage and changing wind patterns working together has disrupted the memory and stability of the Arctic climate system, resulting in greater ice loss than earlier climate models predicted,” said Dr. Overland.
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The changes are happening a great deal faster than the scientific community expected. Given the recent reduction of the area of multi-year sea ice and reduced ice thickness, it is unlikely that the Arctic can return to its previous condition.
“The changes are irreversible,” Dr. Overland concluded in Oslo.
