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masvicmas

@masvicmas / masvicmas.tumblr.com

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davidessman

earlier this month it was 120 degrees in Australia , but yeah lets continue to mock those trying to save us in the 12 years we have left to slow climate change’s effects. 

What is the worst thing that could happen if we listen to scientists and change our ways, and then it turns out they were lying? 

Slowly dying in a mad max hell world to own the libs I guess. 

this is literally why scientists stopped calling it “global warming” and started calling it “climate change”

because these dense motherfuckers couldn’t get it through their heads that an increase in the average global temperature is, has, and will lead to an increase in extreme weather events including goddamn polar vortexes.

“Fner ner ner, look at all the snow outside, what of your global warming now?? CHECK AND MATE SCIENTISTS so much for your fancy degrees and decades of research” of fucking course you’re still gonna get a winter you goddamn dingdongs! The Earth still has a fucking axial tilt – there is always going to be a portion of the year that is colder because that’s when you’re further away from the sun! 

(unless you live between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of capricorn, in which case you’re at more or less the same distance from the sun all year, but presumably then you aren’t pointing to snowfall as proof positive that scientists are spearheading a conspiracy to…i don’t even fucking know. reduce emissions? meanspiritedly destroy the fossil fuel industry, which is gentle and blameless and certainly has never been linked to enormous environmental disasters or long-term health concerns or…?)

Conservatives will be the fucking death of us

Also the reason for these extremely cold temperatures happening and doing so more often is directly a result of literal global warming. Due to rising temperatures (thanks to climate change caused by humans which is real and happening right now and fuck anyone who says otherwise), the Arctic sea ice has been melting more and more without replenishing itself during winter. To make matters worse, the more ice that melts, the more ocean is exposed, which absorbs (rather that reflecting like ice does) the sun’s energy, further heating up. 

This rise in polar temperatures is the reason the polar vortex is currently above the US and making Day After Tomorrow a reality

For those who don’t know, a polar vortex is an area of low pressure that likes to chill around the poles (both north and south but the north is more relevant here). These areas of cold, dense air are usually kept in check by jet streams: long, narrow, fast flowing air currents caused by two masses of air that are different in density/pressure/temperature etc. meeting. 

The polar jet streams in particular are caused by the meeting of cold, dense low pressure polar air and warm high pressure air from the tropics. It’s usually pretty strong, especially during winter, as the temperature gradient between the poles and the tropics is rather large. The bigger the difference, the stronger the wind, and the less likely that polar air escapes southwards.

However, due to the warming around the north pole thanks to the melting sea ice and warming oceans, this gradient is decreasing.

This results in a weaker polar jet stream, which allows the vortex to meander all over the place, such as down south into the US, bringing the cold dense air with it.

Please go forth and use this information to make sure the idiots using this cold snap as piss poor evidence that climate change isn’t real know that they’re wrong and they should feel bad. Also maybe tie them down and make them watch this video (which is where I got these gifs from) which is a good (but terrifying) explanation of how extreme weather events are becoming and will become more common as a result of anthropogenic climate change.

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