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White House: Global Warming Probably Responsible For 'Polar Vortex,' Record Low Temperatures Across U.S.

White House: Global Warming Probably Responsible For 'Polar Vortex,' Record Low Temperatures Across U.S.

“If you’ve been hearing that extreme cold spells ... don’t believe it."

The White House on Wednesday released a video suggesting that the "Polar Vortex" responsible for record lows throughout the U.S. was actually caused by global warming.

“If you’ve been hearing that extreme cold spells, like the one we’re having in the United States now, disproves global warming, don’t believe it,” President Barack Obama's science adviser, Dr. John Holdren says in the video posted to the official White House YouTube channel.

"A growing body of evidence suggests that the extreme cold being experienced by much of the United States as we speak is a pattern that we can expect to see with increasing frequency as global warming continues," he adds.

[sharequote align="center"]"...we can expect to see [cold weather] with increasing frequency as global warming continues."[/sharequote]

"The reason is this: In the warming world we are experiencing the far north, the Arctic, is warming roughly twice as rapidly as the mid latitudes such as the United States," he continues. "That means the temperature difference between the Arctic and the mid latitudes is shrinking. And that temperature difference is what drives what is called the circumpolar vortex which is the great counterclockwise swirling mass of cold air that hovers over the arctic."

"As the temperature difference between the arctic and mid latitudes declines, the polar vortex weakens and it becomes wavier. The waviness means that there can be increased larger excursions of cold air southward," he concludes.

As BuzzFeed reported, the video is just a piece of the administration's efforts to push back against claims that global warming is in decline or non-existant. The White House plans to also hold an online "We The Geeks" session on the "Polar Vortex" featuring several climate experts.

(H/T: BuzzFeed)

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Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter

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