Even in Lapland where winter temperatures drop well below zero, the weather this winter has been unusually cold due to a disruption in the polar vortex due to warming in the Arctic. Now, that sounds a bit strange until you realize that warming oceans lead to more evaporation in the air which we are experiencing as disastrous snowstorms.
Even in the winter, there are ice floes where it was once solid ice. Arctic wildlife like polar bears and seals are suffering as a result. When this unstable polar vortex comes down on us, states like Mississippi have terrible snowstorms. It wasn’t that long ago that spring bulb companies told people down south to put the bulbs in the fridge for several weeks before planting. Our reliance on fossil fuels has changed all that.
And thanks to cuts in the budgets of climate related government agencies, such as NCAR, because they provide models of what we are doing to our environment, we can happily go back to the dark ages of scientific climate research. But, don’t worry, although it’s 5 degrees this morning, spring and summer will come and we will have extreme heat thanks to what we are doing to our earth.
Prayer for the Day
Shivering, O God, we want to turn back the clock,
For even in past storms, it was never this cold;
In past winters, the cold didn’t cut through you,
But this is becoming our climate now.
Shake us loose from our old moorings, O Lord,
And let us try to repair the damage we have done.
In the name of the One who points the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Turbulence alone is the leading cause of injuries on U.S. commercial flights and cargo operations, and NCAR research has played a central role in reducing that risk by improving how turbulence is detected, predicted, and avoided. NCAR scientists helped develop advanced forecasting techniques that allow pilots and dispatchers to reroute aircraft away from dangerous air currents before passengers are ever put at risk.
American Geophysical Union newsletter EOS (Jan 15, 2026)
Additionally, a warmer ocean leads to more evaporation, and because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, that means more moisture is available for storms.
Matthew Barlow & Joshua Coen, climate scientists, UMass and MIT
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there until they have watered the earth,
Making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return empty,
But it shall accomplish that which I propose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55: 10-11