Europe, US to see snowy, cold winters: expert

AFP - Europe, North America and east Asia can expect more cold, moist and snowy winters such as the one just passed, a top scientist said Friday.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, warmer Arctic climes caused by climate change influence air pressure at the North Pole, shifting wind patterns in such a way as to boost cooling over adjacent swathes of the planet.

"Cold and snowy winters will be the rule rather than the exception," said James Overland of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Continued rapid loss of ice will be an important driver of major change in the world's climate system in the coming years, he said at an Oslo meeting of scientists reviewing research from the two-year International Polar Year 2007-2008.

<SNIP>http://www.france24.com/en/20100611-europe-us-see-snowy-cold-winters-expert

---

Re-growth of the glaciers which normally cover Canada and the northern United States cannot occur while the Artic Ocean is covered with ice. When the Arctic Ocean opens, moist artic circumpolar winds can carry the moisture south where it provides a lot of winter snow. Glaciers do not require particularly low temperatures. They require that more snow falls in the winter than melts in the summer.

that climate and weather shouldn't be confused with each other.

is going to be like that every winter from now on, I'm thinking a snowblower would be a good investment.