Articles | Volume 21, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-67-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-67-2025
Research article
 | 
13 Jan 2025
Research article |  | 13 Jan 2025

A stretched polar vortex increased mid-latitude climate variability during the Last Glacial Maximum

Yurui Zhang, Hans Renssen, Heikki Seppä, Zhen Li, and Xingrui Li

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Short summary
The upper and lower atmospheres interact. The polar regions, with high-speed, cyclonically rotating winds, provide a window through which upper winds affect surface weather and climate variability. By analysing climate model results, we found that ice sheets induced anomalous upward wave propagation and stretched the rotating winds towards North America, increasing the likelihood of cold-air outbreaks at the mid-latitudes. This accounts for the enhanced winter cooling at these latitudes.