Revenge of the Weather Gods
Catastrophic Arctic weather has plunged North American daily temperatures in the Mid-West, East and the South East to sub-zero levels for a good part of the first quarter of Year 2014. In a strange turn of events, many areas within the Arctic Circle are registering lower temperatures than farther south in the USA. Such continuing cold and wintry storms have never before been recorded in America since observatory records were kept. It is admittedly caused by global warming due to environment polluting greenhouse gases to which the USA has been the major contributor. China is the other main contributor to global warming but China’s population is four times larger than that of the USA. And while the Chinese government and people recognize the environmental damage they are causing and have a plan to reduce toxic emissions, the US is the principal home of climate deniers and administrations that have so far declined to take effective measures for a cleaner atmosphere on the grounds that it will adversely affect US economic recovery. Are the Weather Gods punishing the climate deniers?
The US mass media has been strangely silent on the causes or the long term effects of this climate phenomenon. Their agenda is driven by the giant corporations, especially in the oil, coal and motor transport industries that are a major influence on the elected representatives who run the country and are major contributors to atmospheric pollution. Yet this subject is of far more importance than a US economic recovery or the need to maintain a military presence around the world and dictate the internal affairs of other countries. The need to police other countries and dictate their politics is what mostly concerns the administration and the corporate controlled media. But this kind of Arctic weather is predicted to be a permanent feature of life. The extension of Siberian weather to North America is bound to affect the traditional agriculture patterns and some industries. Huge additional expenses will be required for more heating in offices and dwellings, snow clearance and more office and school closures due to snowbound roads and transport.
The scientific explanation of this phenomenon is the shift in the polar vortex. The North Pole has a very cold circular wind system above it. In recent years, due to progressive global warming, the polar ice has melted to the extent that the Arctic Ocean has become a shipping route for northern states. As the polar waters become warmer, it pushes the very cold polar winds outwards. The Jet Stream, a wind system circulating in the northern hemisphere, takes the incoming cold air around. Strangely, satellite pictures show that this extending cold air extends southwards mostly only into North America. Hence the temperature in places like New York and Washington can be colder than in regions within the Arctic Circle while the American Mid-West is even colder.
But it is not only freezing winters. The tropical and sub-tropical regions of the earth are experiencing the hottest weather in over a century. California in the East was in the grip of extreme heat with water sources drying up. This was suddenly followed by extraordinarily heavy rains causing massive mud-slides. This unpredictable pattern of severe heat waves, followed by torrential rains, is compounded by the increasing number of tornadoes and hurricanes that ravage coastal communities around the world. The Devil’s mischief!
The powerful leaders of the US-EU power bloc that presumes to run the world must have the simple good sense to realise that saving the earth for mankind is more important than fostering dissension and striving for perpetual political dominance. Otherwise, we are all doomed.
Kenneth Abeywickrama
03 March 2014.