Large parts of Canada, and US have experienced very low temperatures this year. This is caused by the collapse of the normally uniform Polar Vortex which is well explained in below 2-min YouTube video.
Similarly the Nordics have experienced cold weather fronts due to the collapsed Polar Vortex pushing cold Arctic air towards Europe.
“The collapse of the Polar Vortex in winter 2020-21 have large impacts on our societies. We at Kjeller follow these extreme events closely.” Says Emilie Claussen Iversen, Senior Advisor carrying out her PhD thesis work at Kjeller Vindteknikk. As part of her PhD thesis she studies future climate impacts on large infrastructures such as wind turbines, bridges and buildings.
Last winter, the weather situation was exactly the opposite, with a record-strong Polar Vortex and mild weather over Europe.
“The year-to-year variations of the Polar Vortex are large. There is an ongoing scientific debate on whether these variations are related to global climate change.” Says Sigmund Guttu, Senior Advisor recently hired by at Kjeller Vindteknikk. He is currently finishing a PhD focusing on the relation between solar activity and the Polar Vortex.