Surprising weather correlation

2010/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Klima

Australian drought linked to Antarctic snow

Meteorologists find a surprising connection: Every time a drought occurs in southwestern Australia, there are great chances that in Antarctic Cape Poinsett there will be large snowfall, with a probability of 40%. It is common that there are droughts in one and snowfall in the other, but meteorologists are surprised because this percentage of correlation is very high.

The idea of this correlation is not new. 30 years ago meteorologists suspected that this could be. So, now, scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division have compared the weather data from both places. From the ice of Antarctic Cape Poinsett layers over 700 years of age have been extracted to obtain a record of snowfall and data from the rains of southwest Australia have been collected. And they have found correlation.

Scientists do not know why this correlation is, but there are mathematical simulations that can influence carbon dioxide cycles. Both in ice sheets and in simulation it is observed that the effect increases due to human pouring.