All over the United States in February 2019, brutally cold weather spread, with some states dropping as low as minus 60˚ degrees Fahrenheit.

Because of this temperature drop, there have been dozens of deaths, school closings, and halting of mail services. The very cause for extreme drop in temperature is the polar vortex.
The polar vortex is the mass of cold, low-pressure air that consistently hovers over the Artic. Usually this mass of cold polar air stays intact over the North Pole, but sometimes, the vortex weakens. In the warming world, there is more heat to transport and more energy to displace the cold polar air. This causes a disruption in the polar vortex.

The increased heat, partly caused by global warming, melts sea ice and permafrost. This decrease of sea ice and Artic warming causes the wintertime polar vortex to become further displaced and spread to lower regions such as Canada and the United States.

In addition, the warming of the stratosphere causes a huge high-pressure system to be formed. It allows part of the polar vortex to break off and move southward. With the continual temperature increases, these displacements will be more common, and its wanderings will become more ranging.

As global warming continues to destroy lives and cause havoc, more must be done to prevent climate change and to save the Earth. “Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now.” - Barack Obama

<Elise Kim/Marymount High School/10th Grade>