Return Of The Polar Vortex  

While it's been a blistering hot summer down here the stories of the polar vortex from the northern hemisphere have made interesting reading / viewing.

As usual whenever it snows the usual maniac shouts and global warming being disproven have been doing the rounds - US Science Advisor John Holdren has a good (and brief) talk on the causes of the polar vortex / jetstream deciding to head south for a while - The White House Releases Its Climate Heavy Hitter on the Polar Vortex.

Last week, amid the media furor over the "polar vortex," the White House did something pretty unusual. It released a highly produced scientific video titled "The Polar Vortex Explained in 2 Minutes."

In the video, White House science adviser and physicist John Holdren dismantles silly claims that cold weather refutes global warming. "The fact is that no single weather episode can either prove or disprove global climate change," explains Holdren. He then describes how, in fact, climate change could make extreme winter weather in the mid-latitudes more common. "A growing body of evidence suggests that the kind of extreme cold being experienced by much of the United States as we speak is a pattern that we can expect to see with increasing frequency as global warming continues," Holdren asserts.