NORTH POLAR WINDS GROW STRONGER...01/12/00

Scientists offered information at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December indicating that the upper atmospheric winds that circulate around the North Pole are growing stronger as the vortex itself compresses. This could be responsible for a variety of weather changes ranging from higher temperatures in Northern Europe and Asia to severe drought in Southern Europe. It could also be causing the increasing violence of winter weather in western North America. Scientists are uncertain if this phenomenon is caused by accumulating greenhouse gasses, or is part of a natural cycle.