Seoul, South Korea, issued a cold wave warning for the first time in three years. Why is this winter so cold?

On January 6, 2021, the Korea Meteorological Observatory issued a cold wave warning for Seoul. This is the first time in three years since January 2018 that Seoul has issued a cold wave warning. According to data, the minimum temperature in Seoul this week dropped by 1 degree to minus 18.6 degrees, which is the lowest temperature since January 1986. From the 6th to the 7th, the snowfall in Seoul reached 13.7cm. Affected by cold air and strong winds, most areas in South Korea will continue to have low temperatures. Not only is the weather cold in South Korea, but in China, a total of 51 meteorological observatories in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi and other counties and cities have all observed the lowest temperatures in history since the establishment of the stations. The lowest temperature in Beijing reached minus 19.6°C, the lowest temperature since 1966. Why is this winter so cold?

In my impression for many years, China has always had warm winters, and most areas in China have been accustomed to snow-free winters. During the Spring Festival, when rivers are ice-free, I didn’t expect that during the Spring Festival, In 2021, when the epidemic is not over, it suddenly becomes colder, which is really adding insult to injury. I think there are a few reasons why the temperatures have been so cold this year.

Global warming. We all know that the coldest time in winter is not when it snows, but when it melts. Because when ice and snow melt, there will be a lot of heat absorption. The surrounding temperature will also drop accordingly. Due to severe global warming, this year's Arctic sea ice is the second smallest in history. A large amount of glaciers melted, and a strong cold air formed over the Arctic. In the past, when the polar vortex was strong, cold air was wrapped in the North Pole by the vortex. The cold air cannot move southward on a large scale. That winter will be warmer. If you don't understand, you can imagine that the tornado vortex is the outer storm of the tornado, and the cold air is in the eye of the middle. However, this year the polar vortex weakened and failed to contain the cold air from the Arctic. The cold air formed by melting glaciers took the opportunity to move south. So this year's cold air came out of Siberia. Since Siberia is land and does not have the same temperature control capabilities as the ocean, northern my country will bear the brunt of the Arctic ice melt.

Another reason is the La Niña event currently in its prime in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. You can understand the La Niña event as the opposite of the El Ni event, and the event that lasted to this day may be the strongest in the first 20 years of the 21st century. Judging from my country's historical experience from 1954 to the present, there is an 80% chance that my country's climate will be colder and winter will be drier, especially friends in the south. I wonder if you have felt that there is very little rain this winter. The 2008 snow disaster was also affected by La Niña events.

So overall, the cold winter this year is not caused by one reason. Global warming and extreme weather have played an important role.