The researchers discovered that winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere are becoming more severe and increasing in strength faster than expected. In addition, the causes of this phenomenon and its anthropogenic roots were determined.

The storms are getting stronger

Each such storm does not greatly affect the climate. However, Ray Chemke of the Weizmann Institute explains that when analyzing the data over a long period of time, the long-term impact of winter storms becomes apparent.

• The combined effect of these weather events is significant: they affect the transfer of heat, humidity and kinetic energy in the atmosphere, which in turn affects different climatic zones of the Earth. They specifically regulate the temperature at the poles – without them it would be about 30 degrees lower.
• Overall, scientists write that increased storm intensity is threatening Southern Hemisphere residents, although they do not specify what the danger is.
• The scientists chose the Southern Hemisphere because there is an increase in storm intensity relative to the Northern. But if the trend continues, the strength of winter storms will increase in the Northern Hemisphere.
• After analyzing the climate patterns, the scientists came to the following conclusion: The intensity of storms has been increasing very rapidly in the last 20 years and has already reached a level that meets the 2080 projections.
• The strength of storms is growing too fast to be explained by internal natural causes alone. Therefore, researchers have suggested that this process is influenced by external factors such as human activity.
• Next, they uncovered the physical process behind the increase in storm strength. The analysis showed that the increase was due to changes in high-altitude jet streams in the atmosphere, and that climate models did not adequately reflect these phenomena.

It is worth noting that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recently published another report on the Earth’s climate. Its data is disappointing: the critical rate of climate change is increasing rapidly.