Climate Adaptation
As Polar Vortex Stirs, Deep Freeze Threatens U.S. and Europe
- Polar vortex set to unleash Arctic air after a two-year hiatus
- Frigid temperatures already sending gas prices to record highs
Lake Michigan as the Polar Vortex sent temperatures well below zero in Chicago on Jan. 7, 2014.
Photographer: Raymond Boyd/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
High in the atmosphere above the North Pole, a spike in temperatures may soon send bone-rattling chills spilling down through the Northern Hemisphere.
The icy blasts threatening to sweep across North America, Europe and Asia starting in late January are from the same weather pattern that triggered the 2014 cold snap known as the polar vortex, which plunged temperatures in Chicago to minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 27 Celsius).