The Texas Freeze and Climate Change

The freeze in Texas is unusual since the state is known for its hot climate. This year’s winter has been one of its coldest temperatures in 30 years, with some areas breaking century-old records.

Linking this extreme event to climate change is seemingly counterintuitive, for how can global warming bring freezing temperatures?

Texas’s freezing temperatures, which have lingered for almost two weeks, should be interpreted based on 140 years of climate data. A good analogy for this is that the weather is what you wear on a given day, but the climate is what kind of clothes you have in your wardrobe.

Temperature records began in the 1800s and show that temperatures have been steadily climbing. Since 2014, the world has recorded seven straight years of the hottest temperatures since recording began.

The US also experienced record wildfires in September 2020, burning more than 5 million acres in Oregon, California, and Washington. Its most intense drought not only contributed to the wildfires in California and Oregon but also depleted water supplies in some Western States.

So what caused the unusual cold in Texas?

According to the Forbes article, the weakening of the Polar Vortex caused Texas’s deep freeze.

The article describes the Polar Vortex as “a large, persistent, upper-atmospheric, cyclonic circulation that forms and exists over the winter pole” and “a natural part of Earth’s circulation 10-30 miles up in the atmosphere.”

Often, during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex becomes less stable and expands, sending cold Arctic air southward over the United States with the jet stream.

The Polar Vortex spilling would create a u-shape figure extending towards the lower states that do not usually experience freezing temperatures.

Climate Change and the Polar Vortex

Studies have shown that climate change will lead to more disruptions or weakening of the Polar Vortex, causing it to spill. While studies document the Polar Vortex quite well, climate change will make its behaviour more extreme.

Besides climate change’s influence on the Polar Vortex, the world will also see global temperature anomalies.

Some parts of the globe will experience frigid temperatures, while others, such as Asia, will experience scorching temperatures.

According to the article, temperature anomalies occurring in one part of the world are connected to a global event.