Weird Weather And Disappearing Arctic Sea Ice: Are They Connected?

Unprecedented snowfalls, the worst drought in generations, heat waves and flooding – extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity all across the northern hemisphere.

At the same time, the sea ice cover in the Arctic is in accelerating decline. Alpine glaciers are disappearing, the snow cover on Arctic land hit record lows last spring, and in July the entire surface of Greenland melted for the first time in at least 150 years.

Are these rapid changes on top of the world linked to the rash of weird weather around the northern hemisphere? Did the Arctic changes contribute to the record rain in northern Europe and the UK last summer, and North America’s current unprecedented drought conditions?

The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) is hosting a free public lecture with US climate scientist Dr. Jennifer Francis on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the University of Victoria. Francis will present new research that points to climate change, specifically in the Arctic, as a culprit in fueling the increase in extreme weather.

Francis is a research professor with the Rutgers University Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences as well as co-founder of the Rutgers Climate and Environmental Change Initiative. Her research focuses on Arctic climate change and Arctic-global climate linkages.

“Arctic warming related to sea-ice loss and earlier snowmelt in the Far North is affecting the jet stream around the northern hemisphere, with potentially far-reaching effects on the weather,” Francis says.

Media are welcome to attend the lecture. Advance interviews are available on request.

WHAT:                  Free public lecture by Dr. Jennifer Francis, Rutgers University
WHEN:                 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013
WHERE:                Bob Wright Centre Room B150, University of Victoria
Live Webcast:     www.pics.uvic.ca/events/live-webcast

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