(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cold: A Symptom of Global Warming [1] ['Greg Dworkin', 'Dan K', 'Bill In Portland Maine'] Date: 2026-08-19 Dear readers, faithful companions of the lantern and the basketball, Jocelyne and I are returning to Switzerland a day earlier than planned. At this very moment, we are aboard a high-speed train, extremely comfortable, gliding toward Milan. From there, we will take a second train to Zurich, and then on to Neuchâtel, where Jocelyne’s brother will be waiting for us at the station. These last few days in Rome have been a gift. On Saturday, I worked while Jocelyne stayed at the hotel, enjoying the pool. In the evening, we tasted a fabulous pasta dish, and you must know, we adore pasta. After that, we took a night tour of Rome in an open-top bus. It was deeply romantic. On Sunday, we left Rome for a full-day excursion to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast at Sorrento. On Monday evening, we dined out after visiting the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. On Tuesday evening, another restaurant, after a visit to the Trevi Fountain, the underground aqueduct, and the Spanish Steps. This city is sublime. It breathes antiquity, history and culture from every stone. We had news of our children while we were away, and all seemed to be in order. I return with a light heart, still full of the golden light of Rome. And now, let us return to our lantern. We are going to talk about cold in a warming world. A cold that, far from contradicting global warming, is one of its most troubling symptoms. So let us sit down. The lantern is full, the basketball is in its place. 1. Climate is not weather Let us begin with the basics. Weather is the mood of the sky: a rainy day, a cold week, a thunderstorm. Climate is the temperament: the averages, the trends, over decades. A harsh winter does not contradict global warming, just as a rainy day does not contradict a yearly drought. Global warming is an underlying trend: each decade is warmer than the previous one. But that underlying trend does not prevent fluctuations. On the contrary, it amplifies them. Imagine a cook turning up the heat under a pot. The average temperature of the water rises. But the water does not heat uniformly: bubbles burst here, cooler zones persist there. Global warming is the fire under the pot. Cold snaps are the swirls in the heating water. One does not cancel out the other. 2. The jet stream: the ribbon that goes wild Above our heads, about ten kilometres high, a river of wind snakes around the globe: the jet stream. It is a ribbon of violent winds, several hundred kilometres per hour, separating cold polar air from warm tropical air. It circles the northern hemisphere, undulating like a serpent. This jet stream exists because there is a temperature difference between the pole and the equator. But the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet. This is what we call Arctic amplification. The ice melts, the dark ocean absorbs more heat, and the pole warms. The result: the temperature difference between the pole and the equator shrinks. Magazine Geographique And that is when the serpent goes wild. A vigorous, tightly stretched jet stream keeps the cold air trapped at the pole. A weakened, lazy jet stream meanders more widely. Its loops plunge far southward, like icy fingers. When one of those loops dives over North America or Europe, it brings Arctic air with it. That is why it can be very cold, even as the planet warms. 3. The polar vortex: the beast that escapes At the heart of this system lies a sleeping beast: the polar vortex. It is an immense zone of low pressure and glacial air swirling around the pole at altitude. Normally, it is well confined by the jet stream, like a wildcat in its cage. But when the jet stream weakens, the cage opens. The polar vortex can deform, shift, split in two, and the glacial air it contains escapes southward. That is exactly what happened during the great cold waves in the United States in 2021, in Texas, or in Europe in 2018. Polar temperatures in regions that should not experience them. The cold is not proof that global warming does not exist. It is a direct consequence of it. 4. The argument to remember: cold is a symptom So what should you say to someone who tells you: “It is -20°C, where is global warming?” You can say this: “Global warming does not cancel winter. It disrupts it. The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, the jet stream is weakening, and the glacial air of the pole is descending more often over our latitudes. Extreme cold is a symptom of disruption, not proof of its absence. It is as if your house were on fire, and you said to me: ‘But look, there is ice in the freezer!’ The ice does not deny the fire. It is a remnant of the old order, in the process of melting.” 5. The watchman’s lesson Dear readers, I have given you words. Use them with patience, with care. Sceptics are not all enemies. Many are simply misinformed, or frightened, or drowning in an ocean of disinformation. Your role, as those who are convinced, is to be lanterns. Not blinding spotlights, but gentle lights that illuminate the path. The climate is a complex system, and cold in a warming world is one of its most baffling paradoxes. But that paradox has an explanation, and now you know it. The jet stream, the polar vortex, Arctic amplification: these are the invisible threads linking today’s cold to tomorrow’s heat. I set down my lantern. It flickers, like the jet stream under the influence of warming. The basketball is in its place, and I think of those cold waves crashing down on lands unprepared for them, while sceptics cry hoax. It is a difficult fight, but a just one. And every mind you illuminate is a small victory. The next time it turns very cold, remember: it is not the climate calming down. It is chaos setting in. And you now know why. François [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/19/800086423/community/cold-a-symptom-of-global-warming/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/