Re: [Phys-L] Polar Vortex

[rjensen@ualberta.ca]

> A colleague had just informed me that our friends at FOX had declared 
> Global Warming over based on the cold weather, ...

I am very glad that Canada has not traveled that far down the path to
'enlightenment' as the US. Its also great to keep all the idiots in
one location -- FOX -- but bad to give them their own means of
communication. Rant over.

I wanted to point out that -- to counter the idiotic, quick to dismiss
community -- there is a change in the terminology used by climate
scientists. "Global warming" is being replaced with "climate change",
but still attributable to anthropogenic activities. It is much harder
to dismiss statements like "Climate change is resulting in extreme
weather events" given the frequency of extreme weather. Simply,
climate scientists are beginning to understand and cater to the
publics experiences, not try and convince them of the science. (I
can't think of the right word...sorry about that.)

 Dr. Roy Jensen
(==========)-----------------------------------------¤
 Lecturer, Chemistry
 E5-33F, University of Alberta
 780.248.1808




On Tue, 07 Jan 2014 12:26:39 -0500, you wrote:

> On 1/7/2014 11:20 AM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:
> > The reason I bring all this up is because of all the incorrect meteorology and physics that is being bantered about in the media and - wait for it - how it is supposedly connected to global warming. I have now twice seen graphics of a huge supposed "polar vortex" of low pressure that supposedly resides over the poles (remember the Polar High), followed by an explanation of how global warming has split the main vortex into two vortices that have wandered south over Southern Canada and the old Soviet Union, causing the extremely cold weather there.
> >
> > This is just silliness. The low pressure flow we are seeing over Canada is often there- winter and summer. In colder winters than usual, the temperature gradient just intensifies these large scale lows producing what we all know in the US as "Alberta Clippers" or the "Montreal Express" - cold air coming in from over the Canadian plains. The media has simply repackaged these as the "Polar Vortex". As many have pointed out on this list, there is a difference between weather and climate. While global temperatures have risen over the past century, that has nothing to do with the weather we are currently experiencing.
> >
> > Bob at PC
>
> A colleague had just informed me that our friends at FOX had declared 
> Global Warming over based on the cold weather, but I had assured her 
> that someone would certainly blame the 'polar vortex' on Global 
> Warming.  Bob's note reaffirms my faith in our media!  Little wonder the 
> public is confused--me too!
>
> rwt (clearly reading and listening to the wrong things ;-) )
>
> -- Richard Tarara
> Professor of Physics Saint Mary's College
> free Physics educational software www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/software.html
> _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@phys-l.org
> http://www.phys-l.org/mailman/listinfo/phys-l