Recent Bouts of Extreme Weather Linked to Weird Fluctuations of Wind Patterns

Fluctuations in wind patterns high above earth's surface are responsible for recent extreme weather including continuous warmth and drought in the western US and cold weather in the eastern US.

For past a few years, researchers have studying the strange fluctuations in the upper levels of the atmosphere and their link with global warming.

"Over the past three decades, there is evidence that extreme weather events are linked to changes in atmospheric air flow patterns - specifically these wave patterns and how well developed they are", affirmed researchers.

Lead author of the study, James Screen of the University of Exeter in the U.K, was of the view that changes are taking place at air flow patterns around the Northern Hemisphere. It is not clear whether it is happening owing to natural climate variations or global warming, but they are influencing the prolonged bouts of unusual weather.

Screen said they would like to suggest on the basis of their study if these wave patterns would be more frequent then it could lead to more heat waves in the western US, droughts in the central US and cold outbreaks in the eastern US.

Jennifer Francis at Rutgers University, who was not involved in the study, found the methodology and findings to be quite strong. The recent study is akin to previous research indicating that large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns get affected by climate change.

For the study, researchers have assessed heat waves, cold spell, droughts and prolonged wet periods that took place in different countries across the world from 1979 to 2012.