The Polar Vortex hits once again

The polar vortex hit North America once again. It is hard to imagine this as attributable to ocean warming but that appears to be the case. We learned that the water-vapor feedback loop is caused by increased thermal radiation from increased water vapor from solar heating, warming of the oceans. The warming leads to increased evaporation rates which lead to increased warming in this positive feedback loop. This takes us to the ice-albedo feedback loop discussed in section 1.8 of the University of Exeter Climate Science course on Future Learn.com

In this positive feedback loop, increased ocean temperatures lead to melting of sea ice. The expanding lower albedo ocean absorbs more heat leading to further sea ice melting and the loop continues to diminish sea ice extent. John Holdren (former Obama science advisor) notes that the polar regions are warming at twice the rate at mid latitude and is the temperature differences that drive the gyre -the circumpolar vortex (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5eDTzV6a9F4) He explains that the decreased temperature gradient weakens the vortex weakens, becomes waiver and there can be increased larger excursions of the cold air mass into the middle latitudes along with extrusions of warmer into arctic latitudes.

Polar Vortex continued from below... This NASA video provides a nice view of the descent of the polar vortex across North America (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7324&utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=earth20190131-1)