However strange it sounds, that contradiction fits snugly in explanations of what climate change is doing to Earth, scientists said. But when the polar vortex weakens, the arms start flailing out, the skater slips and “all the cold air then gets released away from the center of the polar vortex," Cohen said. The current cold outbreak is consistent with Arctic change and the polar vortex, Cohen said. Cohen and others have done studies that show the polar vortex outbreaks have become more frequent in recent decades. But another polar vortex looks like it's coming at the end of the month, though not as strong as this one, they said.

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