US hit by extreme temperature fluctuations

This gif from the WP illustrates the massive changes experienced to the Jet Stream winds over North America last week.

The results on land made for some extreme temperature fluctuations. For example in Denver the temperatures went from an unusually high October temperature of 27°C to 4°C in just 4 hours! (You can read the full story here)

These kinds of extreme weather events are becoming the new “normal” History shows us that ecosystems can adapt if given time to do so. But events are happening so quickly now that many ecosystems can’t adapt leading to their collapse.

We are literally losing life before our eyes. (See this In the Mountains, Climate Change Is Disrupting Everything, from How Water Flows to When Plants Flower)

What is causing this crazy fluctuation in the jet stream? 

“Increased melting of reflective sea ice in summer exposes more dark-colored ocean to absorb heat, and that heats the surrounding land. As Arctic warming races ahead of the rest of the global average, the temperature contrasts that drive the jet stream are reduced, and the river of wind more frequently twists into sharp and slow-moving or stationary waves.” (Source)

This is a climate emergency!