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1 Sep 10 - The severe snowfall in North America and Northern Europe in the winter of 2009-2010 was caused by a rare, once in a century, collision of two weather systems, "not a change in climate." says this article by Pamela Rutherford. "In the winter of 2009-2010 much of Northern Europe experienced heavy snow and temperatures were at the lowest they had been for nearly 30 years," says Rutherford. "At the same time, record snowfall hit Washington DC and other parts of America's 'Mid-Atlantic states'." "Some news reports took the extreme cold weather as evidence against climate change."
"By analysing 60 years of snowfall measurements and satellite data, researchers concluded the anomalous weather conditions were caused by an unusual combination of an El Nino event and the rare occurrence of a strongly negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)," says Rutherford. "The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is climatic phenomenon resulting from shifts in atmospheric pressure between two regions above the North Atlantic Ocean," Rutherford explains. "When the NAO enters a strongly negative phase, cold air repeatedly comes down from the Arctic. This affects eastern North America, and Western Europe." Richard Seager, a meteorologist with the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, and one of the lead authors of the paper, believes "the research is a counter to suggestions that the cold winter is evidence against climate change."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11152077
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