The main circulating air current, called the Arctic polar vortex, has completely changed course and is now spinning “backwards”. Scientists are trying to predict what impact this will have on weather systems in the coming months, given the easterly wind. Before you start imagining a sudden collapse of our planet’s weather systems, let’s say that these changes are not that unusual. Although the intensity of the adverse winds draws attention, it is not the first change this year.

During the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, the vortex’s circulation slows down and it also begins to rotate eastward (clockwise around the North Pole). But changes from west to east during the winter months can have significant impacts, and few are as dramatic as what we see in March 2024. This is one of the six strongest changes since 1979, says National Oceanic climate scientist Amy Butler. and the National Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Spaceweather.com reported.

This winter’s stratospheric events were far from typical, as NOAA climatologist Rebecca Lindsey described it, creating “a lot of drama” to keep researchers busy in the coming weeks until the air returns to a western circulation.

The polar vortex is located in the stratosphere, which begins about 6-20 kilometers (4-12 miles) above the planet’s surface and reaches about 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) above. Although most of the weather conditions we experience are a feature of the troposphere below, extreme stratospheric winds of up to 250 km per hour keep some cold air above the Arctic.

But sometimes atmospheric waves, called Rossby waves, push and weaken the polar vortex, causing cold air to be expelled. This is known as sudden stratospheric warming, and that’s exactly what’s happening here; It can lead to a drastic cooling of the earth, but not always.

It is too early to analyze the consequences of this latest reversal of the polar vortex, but scientists have already noticed a jump in ozone levels in the Arctic. This is because a weaker polar vortex causes more ozone to come to the poles and stay there, the largest increase in Arctic ozone ever recorded in March.

Once the polar vortex returns to its normal counterclockwise rotation, ozone levels should also return to normal, and at least so far this has not been accompanied by any major weather fluctuations. One of the most significant polar vortex reversals in history doesn’t appear to have had much of an impact on the weather.

But there’s a long-term view here: It’s unclear how the polar vortex might begin to change as the planet warms. Everything from El Niño circulation patterns to sea ice cover will play a role, and experts will be keeping a close eye on the polar vortex and any major reversals in the coming years.