What causes Greenland blocking?

Atmospheric Blocking and Greenland Melt – UKESM. Atmospheric blocking occurs when near-stationary high-pressure systems divert westerly flow for a week or more. It can cause extreme regional weather such as heatwaves in summer and cold spells in winter.

What is Greenland block?

An area of high pressure over Greenland can cause some bizarre weather events—like Hurricane Sandy’s westward track. The weather pattern responsible for this mischief is called a Greenland block. It happens when atmospheric pressure builds over Greenland and forces the jet stream to dip into eastern North America.

Why is Greenland called that?

The name Greenland comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Norse sagas, it is said that Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He set out in ships to find land rumoured to be to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grfnland (Greenland), possibly to attract more people to settle there.

What happens if the Gulf Stream stops?

It would disrupt monsoon seasons and rains in places like India, South America and West Africa, affecting crop production and creating food shortages for billions of people. The decline of the Amazonian rainforest and the Antarctic ice sheets would also be put into fast forward.

Does Greenland have tornadoes?

Since late spring, a series of storms has triggered severe weather, including tornadoes and flooding. Cold and snowy conditions are common to the west of the Greenland block, where the jet stream dips and chilled air surges south.

Is polar vortex coming?

Stratospheric Polar Vortex returns for Winter 2021/2022, together with a strong easterly wind anomaly high above the Equator, impacting the Winter season. A new stratospheric Polar Vortex has now emerged over the North Pole and will continue to strengthen well into the Winter of 2021/2022.

What would Greenland be like without ice?

With no ice sheet, sunlight would have warmed the soil enough for tundra vegetation to cover the landscape. The oceans around the globe would have been more than 10 feet higher, and maybe even 20 feet. The land on which Boston, London and Shanghai sit today would have been under the ocean waves.

Is the Gulf Stream slowing?

The study, which appeared in the journal Nature Climate Change, found several signs that Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), of which the Gulf Stream is a part, is slowing down and might be about to collapse.