Global warming resulting adverse effects of climate change on the Polar Regions
Deepak Kumar Kundu
Economist
CEIP 2, BWDB
Europe’s northernmost settlement, Ny-Ålesund (“New Ålesund”), is known in the past for coal mining but has now become an important center for climate science. Ten countries have established research stations there.
The France–Germany joint station has several measuring instruments mounted on its roof. Marion Maturilli collected data relevant to meteorology there.
“These are fundamental data, such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, and wind speed,” Maturilli said, “It also includes information on clouds, cloud particles, liquid and solid ice particles in clouds, aerosols.”
“Basically, anything that is transported by air. There mentioned also Trace gases; on the one hand, we document the state of the atmosphere, while on the other, we analyze long-term changes and try to find their causes,” he described.
It notices a severe change. At this point, north of the Arctic Circle, the fjords no longer freeze, even in winter. It is not snowing except at very high altitudes. The sea ice is melting, and the permafrost is thinning.
Due to climate change, the global average temperature has risen by about one degree. Only on the island of Spitsbergen has the temperature increased by three degrees in the last 20 years.
According to Maturilli, changing wind speed is one of the reasons “Especially in the winter months, we see that the wind currents are coming more from the south,” he said of his observations.
The air from the tropics brings warmth and moisture. Its effect on precipitation and clouds is seen here. As a result, the climate is also changing at the local level.
Marion Maturilli hypothesizes that a system of winds at an altitude of 10,000 meters plays the most crucial role in drawing the southerly winds to the Sumerian region.
The polar jet stream is formed when warm air rises near the equator and rushes northward, colliding with cold air in the Polar Regions.
But as the temperature difference increases dramatically, rapid mixing between the two winds is no longer possible. Due to the earth’s rotation, the wind’s speed rises from west to east.
Until winds flow at that altitude, moving around the Northern Hemisphere on a light wave-like course through a stable corridor with a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour. However, climate change is disrupting that system.
Explaining the matter, Marion Maturelli said, “Because the temperature difference between the polar region and the center of the earth is not so significant, the air conditions are also changing.
Parallel currents of fast-moving air, such as the Jetstream, are weakening. Because the wind is not as strong as before, the current course is bending.”
