Cassie Smith's web writing story

 What's with the Weird Weather?

 

Scientists can’t agree on whether humans are behind the drastic weather changes.

Last week was warm. This week is freezing. Weather extremes are becoming routine in the Northern Hemisphere.

While Northern parts of the United States cling to winter coats to stay warm, Europeans are strolling around streets in short sleeves. The weather is warm in Europe weeks after a severe cold wave killed hundreds. A heat wave is setting record high temperatures in Scotland.

What’s causing this crazy weather?

Scientists aren’t sure.

Let’s blame the greenhouse gases

Humans releasing greenhouse gases is causing sea ice in the Arctic to melt. Forty percent of the ice caps have melted since the 1980s.

With less ice in the Arctic more heat can be absorbed in the summer. This heat is released into the atmosphere in the fall and early winter.

Dr. Francis of Rutgers believes this is affecting the jet stream. The jet stream is the air circling the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s how:

            -Temperatures between the Arctic and the middle of the Earth aren’t as different anymore

            -“Kinks” that control the weather in the jet stream move more slowly

            -The kinks effect the weather making it last longer as it moves slowly

            -Weather changes quickly once the kink moves on

But not every scientist agrees with her theory.

It’s all happening naturally

Martin P. Hoerling, an NOAA researcher, doesn’t think the severe changes in the weather are because of humans.

He ran computer analyses that couldn’t find a widespread effect outside the Arctic from declining sea ice. He said, “What’s happening in the Arctic is mostly staying in the Arctic.”

He thinks it’s mostly natural causes.

John R. Christy, a climate scientist at the University of Alabama, agrees.

He told Congress last year told Congress last year that “the weather is very dynamic, especially at local scales, so that extreme events of one type or another will occur somewhere on the planet every year.”

As the weather spirals out of control scientists will keep searching for the answers. We can only hope that we will find a solution to this problem before the extreme weather changes our planet for good.