The Polar Vortex: The Icy Force from the North

❄️The Polar Vortex is a powerful, icy force that threatens to overflow its bounds and rush southward.

🌀The Polar Night Jet is the Jetstream that bounds the vortex at the North pole, keeping it in check during the polar night.

🌬️The Jetstream, influenced by temperature differences and the Coriolis force, helps keep the polar vortex circling the poles.

🥶When the Jetstream breaks down, the polar vortex can move southward, bringing freezing temperatures and severe weather to regions it usually bypasses.

🌍Understanding the complex interplay of forces in our atmosphere, like the Polar Night Jet and the Jetstream, reveals the incredible majesty of our planet's protective systems.

What is the Polar Vortex?

—The Polar Vortex is a powerful, icy force that exists at each pole and is kept in check by the Polar Night Jet, a Jetstream that bounds the vortex at the North pole.

What is the Jetstream?

—The Jetstream is a high-speed air current in the atmosphere that influences weather patterns. It helps keep the polar vortex circling the poles.

What causes the breakdown of the Jetstream?

—Various factors, such as the boundary between sea and land or the presence of large mountains, can disrupt the Jetstream and cause it to deviate from its course.

What happens when the Jetstream breaks down?

—When the Jetstream breaks down, the polar vortex can move southward, bringing freezing temperatures and severe weather to regions it usually bypasses.

How often does the Jetstream breakdown occur?

—Jetstream breakdowns occur in the north approximately six times every decade. The frequency may vary, but they can have significant impacts on weather patterns.

00:00The video begins with an analogy to Game of Thrones, where the armies of the Night King in the north are trapped behind a wall, just like the polar vortex on Earth that is kept at bay by the Polar Night Jet.

01:31There are two polar vortexes, one at each pole, and they consist of tropospheric and stratospheric polar vortexes.

05:07The Coriolis force, a result of the Earth's rotation, causes the air traveling from the equator towards the poles to veer towards the east, creating jet streams.

08:25The Polar Night Jet is the Jetstream that bounds the stratospheric polar vortex at the North pole, keeping it in check during the coldest part of the year.

10:16Jetstream breakdowns can occur due to various factors, such as the presence of mountains or the boundary between land and sea, causing deviations in its course.

11:39Jetstream breakdowns can lead to the polar vortex moving southward, resulting in freezing temperatures and severe weather in regions that usually enjoy temperate conditions.

12:45The impact of Jetstream breakdowns can range from minor disruptions to major weather events, as seen in the Big Freeze in the UK and the north American Cold wave.

13:57Jetstream breakdowns occur in the north approximately six times every decade, and their frequency may be influenced by global temperature changes.