Scientists this week noted a highly unusual weather event – the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream has merged with the Southern Hemisphere Jet Stream. One scientist explained:
“Historically, the Tropics — which produce the tallest and thickest air mass in the world — have served as a mostly impenetrable barrier to upper-level winds moving from one Hemisphere to another. But as the Poles have warmed due to human-forced climate change, the Hemispherical Jet Streams have moved out of the Middle Latitudes more and more.”
Now that the jet streams have merged – what’s next? Some believe the extraordinary event could have global weather-changing consequences including the end of seasons on planet earth. One scientist explained the concern over the unusual merging of the jet streams:
“That’s bad news for seasonality. You get this weather-destabilizing and extreme weather generating mixing of seasons that is all part of a very difficult to deal with ‘Death of Winter’ type scenario”
University of Ottawa climate scientist Paul Beckwith called the event “unprecedented” and told reporters:
“Our climate system behavior continues to behave in new and scary ways that we have never anticipated, or seen before. Welcome to climate chaos. We must declare a global climate emergency.”
