The White House is firing back at climate change deniers’ claims that the polar vortex is a sign global warming doesn’t exist.
In a new video posted on the White House website, John Holdren, science adviser to President Obama — unlike climate skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) — says no single weather event can disprove climate change. Inhofe called global warming “laughable” on Tuesday, citing the record-low cold temperatures in the Midwest and East Coast.
{mosads}But Holdren says, “If you’ve been hearing that extreme cold spells like the one that we’ve been having in the United States now disprove global warming, don’t believe it.”
In fact, the U.S. should expect more instances of Arctic-like weather in the future as the polar vortex — known typically to circulate around the Arctic — weakens its centralized hold due to global warming, Holdren says.
Why?
Well, because now the Arctic is warming roughly twice as rapidly as the mid-latitude regions of the globe, such as the U.S.
“That means the temperature difference between the mid-latitudes and the Arctic is shrinking,” Holdren said.
And those events cause the polar vortex to become less stable, which means there will be more frequent cold snaps headed farther south.
However, the White House isn’t stopping there. On Friday, the administration’s We the Geeks gang will host a conversation on the polar vortex and extreme weather with meteorologists, climate scientists and weather experts.