A prominent climate scientist has declared a “global climate emergency” after observing the jet stream in the Northern Hemisphere crossing the equator and mixing with the jet stream in the Southern Hemisphere. Paul Beckwith, a geography professor at the University of Ottawa, wrote in a blog post that this behavior is new and “indicates that climate system mayhem is ongoing.” If the merging of the jet streams continues, it could disrupt the seasons, threatening the food supply chain and causing “massive geopolitical unrest.”


Related: The Arctic is greening and scientists confirm it’s due to human activity

Beckwith was alerted to the development from a blog post by environmental writer Robert Scribbler, who wrote that this “weather weirding due to climate change” is something that “would absolutely not happen in a normal world. Something, that if it continues, basically threatens seasonal integrity.” Scribbler explained that the barrier between the two jet streams is what has generated the strong divide between Summer and Winter during the Holocene Climate Epoch. If the boundary is eroded, it could create what Scribbler described as a “death of Winter” scenario with “more Summer heat spilling over into the Winter zone and vice versa.”

Both Scribbler and Beckwith agree that human civilization is not prepared to deal with this new climate trend. “There’s very strange things going on on planet Earth right now,” said Beckwith. “There’s very, very strange things going on with the jet streams which guide our weather patterns.”

Note from the editor: Beckwith and Scribbler’s assertions have met with pushback from other climate scientists – read about the latest developments here.

Via Raw Story

Lead image via Paul Beckwith