Tuesday,  Feb. 18, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 217 • 2 of 43

Scientists: Global warming now
causing extreme winters
By Steve Connor, Science Editor

• Scientists have established a link between the cold, snowy winters in Britain and melting sea ice in the Arctic and have warned that long periods of freezing weather are likely to become more frequent in years to come.
• An analysis of the ice-free regions of the Arctic Ocean has found that the higher temperatures there caused by global warming, which have melted the sea ice in the

summer months, have paradoxically increased the chances of colder winters in Britain and the rest of northern Europe.
• The findings are being assessed by British climate scientists, who have been asked by ministers for advice on whether the past two cold winters are part of a wider pattern of climate change that will cause further damaging disruption to the nation's creaking transport infrastructure.
• Some climate scientists believe that the dramatic retreat of the Arctic sea ice over the past 30 years has begun to change the wind patterns over much of the northern hemisphere, causing cold, Arctic air to be funnelled over Britain during

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