As you may have heard, Adventure Alternative founder and Director, Gavin Bate, is currently ski-ing 550km to the magnetic North Pole to raise money for Moving Mountains Trust (@MMTrust). Thanks to unseasonably good weather and high pressure over the Arctic, Gavin is ahead of schedule at an impressive 88km after just four days of ski-ing.
With indications that the spell of good weather may be changing, Gavin’s pace may well reduce significantly in the coming days and weeks. Along with the news of low pressure returning to the Arctic comes news of returning high pressure to Europe, about time!
Many parts of the Northern Hemisphere saw near record-breaking cool temperatures this Spring. The United Kingdom experienced its 4th coldest March since 1962.
Why? Scientists have been observing the Arctic Oscillation (AO) – a measure of pressure – and have found some interesting results. Pressure is always in flux as air masses of different temperatures/pressures move around the globe. When the AO index is in its ‘positive’ phase, air pressure over the Arctic is low, pressure over the mid-latitudes is high, and prevailing winds confine extremely cold air to the Arctic. But when the AO is in its ‘negative’ phase, the pressure gradient weakens. The pressure over the Arctic is not as low and pressure at mid-latitudes is not as high, seeing Arctic air flow to the south and warm air to move north.
In late March, the AO dropped as low as -5.6, one of the five lowest values ever recorded by meteorologists. It’s hard to link these changes to one phenomenon, but many scientists believe that it might be linked to the loss of Arctic sea ice. This happens naturally in Spring as temperatures warm, but the loss has been increasing dramatically year upon year.
How ironic that global warming may actually lead to a European climate similar to that of Canada and Siberia. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; good weather is on the way! Temperatures are set to reach up to 20°C by Sunday. Rejoice!
Let’s hope that the low pressure heading to the Arctic doesn’t cause too many disruptions on the Race to the Pole. To follow Gavin’s progress, visit the Race me to the Pole website where his location is updated on a map every 4 hours.
Thanks to those of you who have already donated. You are now in the ‘Donation Team’ and have made 49.5km of progress! Thanks!
