Yes, records for cold temperatures are breaking as an off-balance polar vortex sloshes over a vast region of the U.S.
And while it sure feels frigid out there, overall, the number of daily cold records set in the U.S. has been consistently dwarfed by the number of warm or high temperature records. The score isn’t even close. High records over the last decade are outpacing low records by a rate of two to one.
Earth has warmed by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) since the late 1800s, and this boost in warming translates to significantly more heat records than cold records. But during winter — particularly when biting Arctic air sometimes washes over the U.S. — cold records will still be made. Read more…
More about Science, Global Warming, Polar Vortex, Extreme Weather, and Climate Change