The impact of Arctic warming on the midlatitude jet‐stream: Can it? Has it? Will it?

The Arctic lower atmosphere has warmed more rapidly than that of the globe as a whole, and this has been accompanied by unprecedented sea ice melt. Such large environmental changes are already having profound impacts on the flora, fauna, and inhabitants of the Arctic region. An open question, however, is whether these Arctic changes have an effect on the jet‐stream and thereby influence weather patterns farther south. This broad question has recently received a lot of scientific and media attention, but conclusions appear contradictory rather than consensual. We argue that one point of confusion has arisen due to ambiguities in the exact question being posed. In this study, we frame our inquiries around three…

• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Award: NE/J019585/1
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/J019585/1, NE/J019585/1