What is the cause of the cold wave that froze Europe?

Much of Europe is now mired in a huge cold wave. Countries like United Kingdom they will spend most of the week under yellow warning on the snow fog and frost. A lot of trains and planes they had to change their schedules or cancel routes due to inclement weather. This is what also happened in Poland, where the number of road traffic accidents also increased significantly. No less, because frosts are served with temperatures reaching -20°C at night. The list of countries is much longer, but the same thing is happening in all of them: temperatures have plummeted, almost causing winter to come on suddenly. But what is it all about?

As explained from Guardianthe key is in weak polar vortex and split into the stratosphere, which caused a lot of high blood pressure in Greenland. All this in turn made the wind blow cold arctic air to the UK, and from there to other parts of Central and Western Europe.

It is expected that the situation will not change within a week. It wasn’t until the weekend that low-pressure systems finally reached Western Europe, causing temperature riseWith. On the other hand, in the northern zone the situation will change a little later.

Is the cold wave linked to climate change?

This intense cold might make us think it’s guilt changing of the climate. However, establishing correlations with a particular phenomenon is not easy. We cannot be sure that this particular cold wave is caused by climate change. What we know is that it will bring more and more extreme temperatures. And that means more heat waves, but also more cold waves.

In areas hardest hit by this cold wave, temperatures well below average for this time of year. However, in some countries, such as Spain, a wave of cold has brought us only what should be the normal temperatures of the first weeks of December. We had a very unusual heat and drought for the autumn season, and, finally, the weather is starting to adjust to the season in which we are. And it took a cold spell to do that. This should make us think about climate change.

Spencer Backman (Unsplash)

dangerous situation

Whether this cold snap is due to climate change or not, a new study recently published in the journal appealNo, warns of extreme temperatures associated with climate change. In particular, this points to the discovery increased mortality on cardiovascular diseases associated with the development of more waves of cold and heat.

In fact, this study shows that extreme cold is 37% increased risk of death people with heart failure. With regard to heat waves, the risk was 12% older that at the considered temperatures ordinary.

This is a risk that should be taken into account, but other, much more obvious risks, such as floods or accidents caused by freezing. In fact, several deaths from these causes have already been recorded during the current cold wave in Europe. In Bosnia, for example, a death was recently reported in a landslide.

In the end, cold wave Europe’s message may or may not be related to climate change. But what is clear is that climate change will make us more like her, and that this may create risks that we need to address.