7 Feb 2012

GENEVA / WMO EUROPE WEATHER

The World Metrological Organization (WMO) said today that the current cold spell in Europe was due to start “easing slowly from next week” and that part of the explanation for the current cold snap was due to a negative Arctic Oscillation. CH UNTV

Posted at: February 7, 2012 12:29 pm

Duration: 02:47

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / WMO EUROPE WEATHER
TRT: 2.47
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: JANUARY 7 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, exterior of  Palais des Nations with snow
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Omar Baddour, Chief Global Climate Monitoring, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): 
"Based on their expectation it seems that the current values of Arctic Oscillation will start to shift into the neutral condition by two or three weeks from now.  So based on this indicator we might expect, it's not a deterministic forecast, we might expect the changing of the current cold wave might start easing slowly from next week to the end of the month." 
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Omar Baddour, Chief Global Climate Monitoring, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): 
"With the melting of the Greenland ice, not the sea ice, it will change the salinity of the ocean in the North Atlantic and changing the salinity will change also the gulf stream and the gulf stream is the major source of energy for most of Western Europe. So changing the salinity by melting ice and changing and blocking or slowing down somehow the gulf stream might have an impact on colder than average winter conditions over Europe.  But this, please take it as a hypothesis, it needs to be yet confirmed by more solid and more robust scientific studies, but scientifically it's a good hypothesis, it's not a false hypothesis, it can be theoretically explained, but practically it needs strong observation network over the ocean a deep ocean to see how the circulation is really changing."
6. Cutaway, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Omar Baddour, Chief Global Climate Monitoring, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): 
"The current condition of cold is mainly caused by the high pressure system which started building up in late January in the western part of Russia and start extending towards Europe and South Eastern Europe and central Europe and even North African region."
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. Wide shot, press room

STORYLINE:

The World Metrological Organization (WMO) said that the current cold spell in Europe was due to start "easing slowly from next week."

Speaking to reporters in Geneva Tuesday (7 Feb), Omar Baddour, the WMO's Chief Global Climate Monitoring specialist said part of the explanation for the current cold weather in Europe was due to a "Negative Arctic Oscillation."

The Arctic Oscillation is the difference in pressure between Polar areas and mid-latitude areas (where most of the population in Europe lives). At the moment there is a negative Arctic Oscillation, which favors cold conditions in Europe and relatively warmer conditions in the Arctic.

But he also warned that climate change may also be playing a part in the cold weather, "with the melting of the Greenland ice, it will change the salinity of the ocean in the North Atlantic and changing the salinity will change also the Gulf stream and slowing down the gulf stream might have an impact on colder than average winter conditions over Europe."

The cold snap has killed hundreds of people in Europe.  Nine died over the past 24 hours in Poland, bringing the total to 62 since the end of January. Temperatures fell to minus 24 Celsius at night in North Eastern parts of the country.

Filed under 16.07.00 - METEOROLOGY EUROPE UNTV - United Nations Television.