Mayewski speaks about polar vortex on NBC Nightly News

Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, spoke on NBC Nightly News about climate change and the polar vortex. NBC reported melting sea ice and ocean temperatures at the North Pole have caused the walls of the jet stream, or polar vortex, to break open, allowing arctic air to escape to the Midwest. “Not only is greenhouse gas warming impacting the planet, but it’s really beginning to kick in and it’s kicking in in the parts of the climate that are most sensitive, in particular, Arctic sea ice regions and the Arctic,” Mayewski said. NBC also showed UMaine’s Climate Reanalyzer in the report.