re: #389 Editor in Chief

That’s a highly localized warming of the strat and contributes to the polar vortex (PV) which is the cold Arctic air pulled down by the jet stream I mentioned above. My comment about the strat cooling down was a reference to the global average temp of the strat. Just like the rest of the atmosphere there are local variations.

I guess the main take away of this is that the little ice age which was probably caused by the Maunder Minimum isn’t likely to happen because the PV doesn’t cover the entire northern hemisphere at one time.

Well, I don’t claim to understand the physics of it precisely, but neither do those who study it, from what I’ve read.

I never doubt that anything that has occurred once could not occur again, given the right conditions, maybe just somewhat differently.